The $2.6 trillion market cap peak compelled regulators worldwide to take a serious look at cryptocurrencies, but they also don’t want to stifle a growing industry, CoinShares chief strategy officer Meltem Demirors said.
Stating that “uncertainty is the name of the game for the industry,” Meltem Demirors noted that it took over the macro environment for the last few weeks. “Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC, has indicated he wants to get more serious about regulating crypto exchanges,” she added, “Across the world, we are seeing regulators starting to take note.”
Cryptocurrencies started this year with under $1 trillion total market cap, peaking at $2.6 trillion a few weeks ago. Demirors said regulators are starting to take the asset class seriously. “We will continue to see uncertainty why the industry, investors, and speculators alike wait to see how regulation shapes up,” she added.
Speaking on regulators’ perception of the market, Demirors said that regulators want to ensure Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering compliance and ensure market oversight without stifling the growing crypto industry.
Demirors stressed the central bankers’ warnings on crypto have an impact on sentiment. “Sentiment informs demand, and demand informs what takes place in the market,” she explained.
The exec described what we’ve seen over the last weeks as the biggest deleveraging event. Following the May 19 sell-off, which saw the largest daily wick in Bitcoin (BTC) history, nearly 60% of total leverages have been unwound from the crypto derivatives market, she noted.
“We see a lot of investors and traders taking a risk-off approach where they are trying to minimize their directional exposure until we see how these regulations are going to shape up.”
Commenting on the price actions of crypto, Demirors doesn’t believe the crypto prices will stay flat for too long, stating, “There’s over $3 trillion of dry powder on the sidelines in the US institutions alone. It is going to get deployed, and I can’t help but believe some of that will find its way into this market.”