Like superstorms, there are few forces better at separating the weak from the strong than global financial markets. But just as the hurricane that struck cryptocurrency markets last year wiped out businesses that ranged from the tenuous to the apparently fraudulent, the collapse also clarified where innovations in currency, payments and markets may endure. If you have avoided this subject as a colorful fad, you may feel smug at the collapse of bitcoin’s price and the arrest of crypto’s most colorful entrepreneurs. But the White House announcement Jan. 27 of a “road map” for better regulation underscores the promise that still lies ahead. Crypto markets so far have been dominated by day traders and bloggers, but what remains after the most recent shakeout looks durable enough that institutional investors need to start paying attention. Those elements of the industry that still survived will likely shape the future of finance significantly. Yes, money moves just fine today. But if you have even passing engagement with the thick web of back-office systems, correspondent banking relationships and contractual commitments that undergird the current flows of global finance, you might agree that even incremental simplification can be transformative.
Full commentary : How to make sense of the cryptocurrency wreckage.
