The Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators are increasingly exhibiting anti-crypto stance. Cameron Winklevoss said this wouldn’t be in the interest of the country.
It is time for America to fully embrace cryptocurrency or be left behind. This is the view of Cameron Winklevoss, one of the co-founders of the cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini. Winklevoss made the statement amid increased regulatory crackdowns on cryptocurrency firms in the country. With the frosty relationship with regulators, he is of the opinion that the next crypto bull run will be catalyzed by Asia.
My working thesis atm is that the next bull run is going to start in the East. It will be a humbling reminder that crypto is a global asset class and that the West, really the US, always only ever had two options: embrace it or be left behind. It can’t be stopped. That we know.
— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) February 19, 2023
Left with two options
The Gemini co-founder is emphatic that the US has just two options in its relationship with cryptocurrency: either get involved or be left out of a trend that will most likely determine the future of finance.
A February 19 post that the investor made on Twitter said that the next crypto bull run will start from the east. Continuing, he wrote,
“It will be a humbling reminder that crypto is a global asset class and that the West, really the US, has always had only two options: embrace it or be left behind.”
Winklevoss said that what policymakers in the United States need to know is that, as a global trend, it is impossible to stop the concept of cryptocurrency.
He also said that this is the era of the greatest period of growth for the internet and maintained that any country that doesn’t get involved is missing out on a crucial stage of the commercialization of the internet.
Leading Asian countries in crypto
Even though Winklevoss may be reacting to the crackdown on crypto entities in the United States, on-chain analysis shows that Central and Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) led the crypto market in 2022. A total of $932 billion in crypto was moved within the regions from July 2021 to June 2022.
Seven out of the top 20 countries represented in the 2022 index are CSAO countries. These are Vietnam (1), the Philippines (2), India (4), Pakistan (6), Thailand (8), Nepal (16), and Indonesia (20).
The investor further made it clear what the US may be missing out on if it fails to create an enabling environment for crypto entities to thrive.
“And it will mean missing out on shaping and being a foundational part of the future financial infrastructure of this world (and beyond).”
Policy may push crypto investors overseas
Winklevoss is not alone in warning that the US has a lot to lose if regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission continue to stifle the American crypto space. The Coinbase CEO and co-founder, Brian Armstrong, said that the action of the regulator will drive investment and US-based crypto entities overseas.
It is a known fact that there are countries that are willing to welcome such entities with open arms. These include Singapore and the UAE. The latter launched a digital roadmap for the city of Dubai. The objective is to make the city one of the top destinations for blockchain companies.
Next crypto power
In a January 8 post, a market analyst on Twitter at GCR predicted that China will be the catalyst of the next bull run.
“It will take quite some time to melt Western cynicism towards this space, but the East is ascending and yearning to flex.”
Others that are of a similar opinion are Arthur Hayes, a former CEO of BitMEX. In a prediction he made last October, the former executive said that China will lead the next crypto market boom, adding that Hong Kong will play a critical role in this, considering that the Chinese government is subtly promoting the city as a financial hub that would benefit the mainland.
At the time, he said, “China has not left crypto—it has just been dormant.”
On January 9, Paul Hong told participants of a Web3 summit in the city of Hong Kong that legislators have passed a law for the licensing of digital assets.
