In a recent interview with CNBC ‘Money Movers’ host Mark Quintanilla, WisdomTree CEO Jonathan Steinberg announced that crypto is and will remain mainstream in the coming years. This sentiment is further reinforced by the recent speech of former US President Donald Trump at a recent Bitcoin conference that saw huge potential for investors.
The key to opening the mainstream door
According to Steinberg, the former president’s ambition in crypto makes it all the more attractive to retail investors. Trump’s promises of regulatory clarity for Bitcoin and crypto as an asset class are a big deal for the crypto market, which has since been bombarded with regulatory measures by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“I think that would have a very positive impact. Not only on crypto, the asset class, which is really only half the story, but also on blockchain-enabled finance, where WisdomTree is a very early leader,” Steinberg said.
Clear regulations are key to mainstream crypto adoption in the United States. In fact, the US is lagging significantly behind in adopting crypto within its regulatory framework. According to Chain analysisThe US ranks only fourth on the global crypto adoption index, behind Vietnam, Nigeria and USA.
Another factor mentioned is how Bitcoin outperforms and outperforms private equity in the long run.
“What’s so interesting about Bitcoin, with no employees and no institutional buyers, is that it’s raised over a trillion dollars. And now crypto as an asset class is worth over $2 trillion. I think it’s going to go mainstream and stay that way for years to come,” Steinberg said.
While Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general are gaining popularity among retail investors, there are still hurdles to overcome before they become fully mainstream.
The opacity of crypto jargon continues to cloud the eyes of the mainstream
Quintanilla cited complex jargon unique to the sector, such as “halving,” “decentralized finance” and “real-world asset tokenization,” which “are still a little scary for a lot of people considering getting into it.”
However, Steinberg argues that regulators are skeptical of the asset class, thus blocking further mainstream adoption. This leaves retail investors, who are passionate about the asset class, confused about what crypto actually entails.
“And so it’s been embraced, but it hasn’t really gone mainstream yet. You’re seeing it go mainstream with the crypto ETPs that have launched in Europe and the US, and that will continue,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg also cited WisdomTree’s experience launching its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) 20 years ago. He said confusion in early adoption is normal, but that timescale normalization will occur once retail investors understand the core tenets of the asset class.
Main image of New Digital Age, chart from TradingView