In a recent interview, Coinbase Vice President and General Manager Adam White drew a silver lining for the global cryptocurrency market. According to him, institutional investors have been considering digital assets as a worthwhile investment choice.
This is indeed a positive forecast for the global crypto community, considering that despite the mass popularity of digital currencies, the majority of institutional investors have so far refrained from betting on them.
Retail Investors Have Taken the Backseat
Adam White made these remarks during an interview with CNBC’s Fast Money. Per his assessment, after driving the industry for the first few years, retail investors slowly took a backseat, letting institutional investors play a more prominent role in the growth of the global crypto economy. The gradual transformation, according to White, happened throughout 2017. He backed his assessment by the trading figures of Coinbase for the period.
He further stated that this increasingly accommodative approach of mainstream financial institutions and investors toward cryptocurrencies is one of the foremost reasons why Coinbase opened another office in New York, besides launching a range of new products and services such as Coinbase Custody (which is primarily targeted toward institutional investors).
White said:
“[The] institutional conversations have become more and more profound.”
Transparency Is Key to Attracting More Institutional Investors
The Coinbase VP also brushed upon the fact that the global crypto market must offer more transparency in order to attract big institutional players in large numbers. It must not have any room for regulatory ambiguity and reflect full compliance with local laws and financial policies, he added.
White then went on assuring existing and potential Coinbase clients that the digital currency exchange is focusing on the three key factors — compliance, regulatory clarity, and transparency — to ensure profitability and reliability in the long run. He also said:
“We have a long-term vision for space. And we are focused on building the exchange, the wallet, the custodian, that allows capital to move into space.”
On the issue of retail investors and hedge funds still playing a major role in determining the status quo of the crypto economy, White said that it didn’t really matter — especially considering how everyone values digital assets differently.
