In a recent interview, BitMEX CEO Alexander Höptner shared his opinion on institutional investors who, in his opinion, still have an appetite for cryptocurrencies and Ethereum.
Speaking at the Token2049 conference in Singapore on September 28, the executive told Cointelegraph that there has not been a “single slowdown in institutional push in crypto” during this bear market.
He added that Institutions and financial industry players often use bear markets to innovate. “In a bull market there is a lot more pressure to get results, but bear markets offer the luxury of more time.”
Höptner also commented that adoption by the financial sector has a long horizon to go, so institutions will buy and hold crypto assets, while the opposite can currently be said for the retail sector.
Asked if it will be the institutions or the retail sector that end the bear market, he said that the retail sector continues to retreat, while the institutions will continue to advancebefore adding:
“I think the institutions are getting ready now to provide the services, and retail will drive it back.”
The head of BitMEX is also convinced that Institutions will bet on Ethereum again now that it has switched to proof-of-stake and satisfies environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns.
“Ethereum is the ideal protocol to build things,” he commented before adding that “it is the ideal public event to build financial products that adhere to ESG”, in reference to the recently deployed fusion.
Right now, ESG compliance is paramount, he saidadding that institutions “can offer products that are really for a wide audience once again while ensuring that they comply with the regulations imposed.”
The $3,000 figure was mentioned in relation to Ether (ETH) prices by the end of the year, and Höptner sees it as a possibility, especially now that the network is more environmentally friendly and big banks use it. ETH is currently trading up 3.8% in the last 24 hours at $1,336, so it has a long way to go in the next three months.
Last week, Cointelegraph reported that liquid staking products, such as Lido’s Staked Ether (stETH), are more profitable and capital efficient than holding regular ETH. Therefore, its popularity will increase, while the ETH holding company could become obsolete.
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