Cryptocurrency is viewed as here to stay by the majority of financial executives, and has gained a lobbying advocacy group to cement its place in the modern economy.
According to a new report on a survey of 141 financial industry executives conducted by the Greenwich Associates consulting firm, the vast majority, 80%, believed in the long-term existence of the cryptocurrency asset class, with 70% believing in a strong future (38% believe regulations will allow growth and 32% believe that a few coins will survive and thrive). Only 17% believed that cryptocurrency had no future, with 10% forecasting death by regulatory crackdown and 7% seeing most, if not all, coins losing all value. A very small minority, 2% of those polled, believed that cryptocurrency would grow to disrupt traditional finance.
Crypto is graduating from is humble roots to seek explicit acceptance
While still facing resistance from the financial establishment, for example the recent case of the Marshall Islands being warned against adoption cryptocurrency by the International Monetary fund (IMF), the cryptocurrency community has taken more proactive steps to a favorable regulatory environment. A group of prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry announced the formation of the Blockchain Association, a Washington, DC-based lobbying firm. The Association aims to give the larger players in the industry a voice in legislative deliberations, which could have the effect of negotiating more favorable regulations for cryptocurrency as a whole.
Dash has taken significant steps towards heading off harmful regulation, mainly by ensuring that tools for AML/KYC regulatory compliance are available when useful. Additionally, the Dash Core team has taken a proactive approach to addressing regulations by pursing a no-action letter from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If successful, the receipt of a no-action letter would solidify Dash’s regulatory status as not constituting a security, which could represent a strong signal to investors as a lower risk asset.
Wide adoption looms close, with Dash making the most progress
Despite several key usability roadblocks still remaining, such as price volatility, cryptocurrency is poised to experience significant growth in adoption over the next few years, with Dash standing as one of the most widely adopted projects in the space. This year alone, Dash has added thousands of businesses to the DiscoverDash listing of businesses accepting it as payment, with nearly 1,500 in Venezuela alone, a country long hailed as the prime testing ground for cryptocurrency due to its hyperinflation and other economic challenges.
Still remaining is a smooth, Venmo-like experience for decentralized cryptocurrency, an issue which Dash’s long-awaited Evolution update plans to address by the end of the year. Several technical specifications towards making this project a reality, including blockchain usernames for user-friendly yet decentralized payments and account management, and Long Living Masternode Quorums to more efficiently utilize the masternode network for a variety of advanced functionality, were recently released. A hard release date for the initial stages of Evolution has not been set, though official estimates remain confident that this will take place in Q4 of 2018.
