Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believes regulation could make crypto more palatable to mainstream financial institutions and legitimize cryptocurrencies as an asset class. He says new rules and policies could also alter the crypto industry’s DNA, particularly if it relates to principles like censorship resistance and decentralization.
Buterin said preserving decentralization should be the priority. He thinks the industry should pursue large institutional capital. The Ethereum boss outlined that regulation that leaves the crypto space free to act internally but makes it harder for crypto projects to reach the mainstream is much less bad than regulation that meddles with how crypto works internally. Buterin’s comments come 10 days after a blog post by FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried wherein he shared his regulatory vision for the industry. After receiving criticism for some potential rules related to DeFi, such as requiring autonomous programs to comply with U.S sanctions and making crypto websites register as broker-dealers, he turned to Crypto Twitter.
Regulatory uncertainty has always rattled the crypto industry and continues to do so. Moreover, a new survey by Fidelity Investments described it as a barrier to institutional crypto investing. The survey stated that 16%, out of more than 1,000 institutional investors, highlighted a lack of clarity around regulation as an obstacle to investing in digital assets. About 81% of the institutional investors surveyed see digital assets as having a role in investment portfolios, while 43% of institutional investors showed interest in a Bitcoin ETF.
In regards to less number of ETFs, Buterin said he is happy that a lot of ETFs are getting delayed. He believes the ecosystem needs time to mature before it gets even more attention.
