Switzerland: Largest Stock Exchange’s Head Unsure of Crypto Trading, Bullish on ICOs & “Token Ecosystem” 🚨 This article is 6 years old...
News ▸ Switzerland ▸ Adoption
Switzerland: Largest Stock Exchange’s Head Unsure of Crypto Trading, Bullish on ICOs & “Token Ecosystem”
2 min read
Updated: Apr. 6, 2020 at 1:19 am UTC
Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash
The CEO of Switzerland’s largest stock exchange, Thomas Zeeb, speaks on the bourse’s latest strategic decision. Last week, SIX Trading made waves after announcing intent to offer cryptocurrency trading to institutional investors.
While the news sparked a bounce in the prices of several digital currencies, Zeeb is back with new statements on the topic.
As reported by Business Insider on August 17, SIX is unlikely to launch crypto trading anytime soon, stated Zeeb.
While acknowledging the presence of several bitcoin OTC dealers and institutional trading desks, the bourse’s CEO believes regulatory scrutiny towards the sector make it a risky venture, adding that cryptocurrencies are “not a priority” for the time being.
However, Zeeb spoke with significant optimism for the broader digital asset space, including blockchain technology, crypto-trading, and the market’s most risky asset class – Initial Coin Offerings.
Zeeb suggested Bitcoin may well be “hope and hype” and spoke of the “reputational” damage the pioneer cryptocurrency carries. In stark contrast, he held a great view of ICOs and sees a sustainable future for the token ecosystem.
Zeeb believes ICOs are “here to stay,” and pegs mass adoption after another five years. In addition, he compared the crypto-trading to that of derivatives in the 90s, stating he was “absolutely convinced” in this regard.
Long Way to Go
When asked about the outlook for cryptocurrencies, Zeeb ascertains digital asset adoption to come earlier than the “30 years it took for derivatives.”
Meanwhile, he spoke of SIX’s upcoming digital asset exchange, one that aims at making cryptocurrency trading relevant for institutional investors and wealthy retail traders. The effort is primed to introduce a regulation-compliant way of trading digital assets, with Zeeb adding the support may extend to even ICOs.
While highlighting the main function of the exchange – facilitating the gap between crowdfunding and ICOs – Zeeb stated:
“There is demand from institutional clients to find a way to legitimize and bring asset safety into play.”
To conclude his interview, Zeeb noted the future may see a widespread digitization of existing securities and exchange-traded funds, to even tokenization art galleries and other collections.
In July 2018, SIX revealed official plans to introduce a “fully-regulated” cryptocurrency exchange to support the burgeoning digital asset ecosystem. The bourse also revealed it was considering launching crypto-trading on its securities platform.
