Written by: George Prior
The crypto industry doesn’t need saviours, useless meme tokens and absurd bubbles being created by celebrities - it needs serious regulation, warns the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organisations.
The warning from Nigel Green comes following the “FTX fiasco” that has shaken the cryptocurrency sector over the last week and a half.
It started when FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) dropped the bombshell that his exchange and some 130 affiliated entities had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In a bizarre turn of events his rival, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, CEO of Binance, tweeted that his firm might come to the rescue by signing a non-binding deal to buy the non-U.S. portion of FTX, with both SBF and CZ confirming the agreement via Twitter.
However, the acquisition was not guaranteed, of course, and by Wednesday Binance had walked away from the deal.
Nigel Green says: “The sector has been rocked by these recent events.
“Now we learn that the Binance CEO, CZ, who had a major hand in the drama and meltdown, is planning to set up a global industry body for crypto firms.
“He has unveiled his intention to form an industry recovery fund, to help firms who have a liquidity crisis.”
He continues: “To my mind, this smacks of opportunism with one industry leader using the FTX fiasco to try and rebrand as something of a saviour.
“Crypto does not need saviours in the form of business leaders with their own interests at stake.
“What crypto does need, however, is a strong regulatory framework to be established and approved at an international level.
“Cryptocurrencies in some form or another are here to stay – and the market is only set to grow. As such, cryptocurrencies must come into the regulatory tent and be held to the same standards as the rest of the financial system.”
Regulation would also help “crackdown on useless meme tokens”, says the deVere boss, which undermine the credibility of the crypto sector.
He has previously warned: “I would avoid piling into crypto pumped by social media influencers. If you do want the thrill or novelty of chasing big gains, you really should ensure that you have a sound, diversified, long-term plan beforehand. There’s a major difference between investing and gambling.
“And there’s a major difference between the likes of Bitcoin and Ether which have strong investment and tech fundamentals and ridiculous meme stocks based on internet jokes.”
Nigel Green concludes: “Fewer saviours and so-called ‘sh*tcoins’ and more robust, enforceable regulations is the answer for crypto.”