CEOs Corner: The future of crypto

Embracing opportunity in a new political landscape.

Former Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, when asked about the impact of the French Revolution responded, "too early to say." He was referring to 1968, not 1798, but the anecdote rings true today. For the crypto industry, it is not about points in time but rather the gradual, longer term societal shift.

The re-election of President Trump has brought a return to buoyancy across US markets. Focusing on crypto, we watched Bitcoin gain and then smash through to all-time highs of US$76,800. US Senator Cynthia Lummis exuberantly declared US Bitcoin treasury reserves as incoming policy. Pro-crypto politicians were elected, opposing politicians unceremoniously sacked. Being anti-crypto is no longer politically expedient in the United States.

Writing from Singapore where I'm attending the Singapore Fintech Festival, we see financial institutions from around the world building the next wave of product and infrastructure on blockchain technology. Online is ubiquitous, on-chain is the next frontier. Tokenisation is no longer a trend, it is​ financial services.

Australian banks will need to catch up. Either we will see the dust covers pulled off mothballed projects or they will finally have cover to go public on work conducted 'behind the scenes.'

Similarly, with 2025 an election year, Australian politicians will be well-served to note local voters hold billions of dollars in Bitcoin.

Crypto is no longer a dirty word.

The French Revolution was centred on ideals of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité - Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The Bitcoin white paper espouses values of inclusion, transparency and decentralisation. As to whether these qualities survive or succeed in the next market cycle, it's too early to say.