The cryptocurrency market has gradually become a force not to be ignored in the financial markets today. From a little-known industry just over a decade ago, the crypto world has now grown in leaps and bounds to become the fastest growing market in the world. The recent explosive bullish runs that some of the coins on the market have experienced have contributed to the massive interest that the industry is pulling.
And it is not just from individuals. Financial institutions are now taking tentative steps into the crypto world as they seek to go along with a rising trend that, by its very nature, threatens to leave behind anyone that refuses to go along with it. The crypto world has become a goldmine for anyone with enough interest and capital to enjoy massive rewards -of course with the accompanying risks. While the regular traders can easily shrug off the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies, the institutional traders -the big guns- are wary of those risks.
According to Vikram Pandit, the Ex-CEO of CitiGroup, the current rate of crypto adoption by institutions is only the beginning of what is to come. Pandit argued that in the nearest future, more financial institutions will integrate cryptocurrencies as they have become too important to be ignored.
Pandit said this when he spoke at a fintech festival in Singapore. He said that he expects more financial institutions, especially the major ones, to jump on cryptocurrencies within the next three years. Pandit served as the CEO of Citigroup for five years and is familiar with the risk appetite and risk management policies of large companies such as Citigroup.
His confidence in stating a three-year timeline for crypto adoption by the major financial institutions reveals his knowledge of how they work. He further said that institutional investors will get into crypto either by active trading or by offering broker services to crypto investors.
Cryptocurrency Adoption Is Growing
While Pandit has taken a bullish stance on cryptocurrency adoption, the current rate of adoption shows a slow but steady interest from the big financial powers in partnering with crypto companies to enhance financial services delivery.
The pressure of investors who want some crypto exposure has increased in recent times. It has led to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving Bitcoin futures-ETFs for public trading. The SEC is also reviewing several other applications for futures-ETFs, though it recently rejected a Bitcoin spot-ETF.
But the pressure from investors has also made some major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs include crypt exposure in their services. Goldman Sachs now offers Bitcoin futures trading to its clients. Pandit says that in three years, institutional investors will be questioning their decision to stay away from cryptocurrency assets for so long.
CBDCs And Cryptocurrencies
Pandit concluded by saying that he hopes to see Central Banks around the world embrace cryptocurrencies and CBDCs as he called the current fiat money system a “dead weight”. Pandit firmly advocates global crypto adoption as the new digital technology gains momentum.
