Bank of England Deputy Governor, Jon Cunliffe, stated that he believes crypto firms will survive the current crash and go on to become dominant players like Amazon and eBay.
Cunliffe likened crypto’s current crash – which saw some of its major currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum plummet over recent weeks – to the dot com boom, which eliminated a majority of tech companies and wiped off $5 trillion in value in the early 2000s.
Despite crypto on the verge of another ‘Crypto Winter’, Cunliffe, speaking at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich, believes that crypto can become the leader of the future, predicting major crypto firms to be on the same level and even rivalling tech companies who survived the dot com boom, such as Amazon and eBay.
“The analogy for me is the dot-com boom when $5 trillion was wiped off values. A lot of companies went, but the technology didn’t go away. It came back 10 years later, and those that survived — the Amazons and the eBays — turned out to be the dominant players,” stated Cunliffe.
“Whatever happens over the next few months to crypto-assets, I expect crypto technology and finance to continue. It has the possibility of huge efficiencies and changes in market structure.”
Cunliffe also highlights crypto’s projection for ‘huge application for potential’ with a wide range for varying opportunities, despite its current state.
The Bank of England governor’s comments come after the British Treasury greenlighted proposed plans for a regulated framework surrounding stablecoins to UK financial services.
Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, stated that he will “ensure the UK financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation”.
However, UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) CEO, Andrew Rhodes, revealed his apprehension around cryptocurrencies and NFTs during a recent Gambling Regulation Conference.
“Loot boxes in video games is one that gets plenty of attention but as those of you who have heard me speak will know, we are also concerned about where NFTs, crypto and ‘synthetic shares’ are becoming increasingly widespread and the boundaries between products which can be defined and regulated as gambling are becoming increasingly blurred.”
