Tom Jessop, President of Fidelity Digital Assets, shared his view on the future of bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation under the Biden administration. He confirms that Fidelity sees strong demand for Bitcoin from institutional buyers.
The head of Fidelity Digital Assets is optimistic about the future of Bitcoin
Jessop explained in an interview with CNBC last week what he expects from the Biden administration regarding cryptocurrency regulation. Jessop is Head of Corporate Business Development at Fidelity Investments and President of Fidelity Digital Assets.
First, he talked about Joe Biden’s election as the new Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler. Given the MIT blockchain professor’s experience in space, Jessop said, “I think it paints a more general constructive stance or picture of what we might expect in the future.”
The head of Fidelity Digital Assets also believes the positive crypto rules implemented during the Trump administration will continue. “I would notice that we have seen some pretty interesting and good regulatory developments over the past year,” he said. “They are looking at the OCC and some of the guidance they have given banks on accessing the asset class or even participating in some of these networks.” The Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) introduced a number of positive regulations for the cryptocurrency under Brian Brooks. However, Brooks recently resigned.
Jessop said that during the previous administration:
We have started to work more constructively with regulators. We believe this will continue into the new year, given institutional and retail demand.
Commenting on Janet Yellen’s recent remarks that cryptocurrencies are mainly used for illicit funding, Jessop admitted that it worries him. However, he disagreed with the new finance minister by citing a recent report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis which found that cryptocurrency plunged sharply to just 0.34% of all crypto transactions in 2020.
Without denying Yellen’s concern, Jessop said, “But I think there may be other places to look … where this activity is taking place [illicit financing] occurs more often and in larger sizes. So I wouldn’t reduce the risk, but I think the risk may be less than people think. “In addition, he believes that” it is decreasing or decreasing year-on-year, which in turn has a positive effect on the further development of this ecosystem “.
Regarding the Bitcoin market, which has seen significant price movements over the past few weeks, the President of Fidelity Digital Assets said the following:
Our clients, institutions that work with us have been stable net buyers throughout the period and we continue to see strong demand among institutions for access to the asset class. This is really our take on what has happened lately.
“I think we are now in a completely different market than in 2017,” said the Fidelity manager, without ruling out the possibility of a future price decline for Bitcoin. “I think the makeup of investor interest has changed dramatically,” he said, emphasizing that we moved from 2017, when it was “very retail-driven madness,” and “now we’re seeing a much broader base for institutional acceptance. “
Jessop quickly added further evidence: “You surely see this with service providers like us in our business. You can see this through an open interest in futures exchanges. You will see this when Blackrock announces that some of their funds will have access to Bitcoin futures. ” He concluded:
I also think the market is maturing. There is more liquidity. The volatility has decreased by around 50% compared to 2017. So I believe that the makeup of this investor base that is driving the market higher today is fundamentally different from what it was three years ago.
Do you agree with Fidelity’s Jessop on the future of Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below.
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