United Kingdom may be too slow in noticing the huge potential
The United Kingdom may be too slow in noticing the huge potential of blockchain because of the continuous ascendance of major banks.
Some players told the Financial Times that Britain seems to be “missing the boat” in terms of the institutional money entering into crypto finance despite a successful fintech startups scene, an established trading ecosystem, and a pivotal role in the conventional fiat currencies market.
British banks are expected to join the virtual currency market in 2019, David Mercer, chief executive officer of UK-based LMAX Exchange, said. “London is very bank-driven and we see it as being a late adopter,” he added.
“Banks have been unusually strict in dealings with crypto,” Max Boonen, CEO of cryptocurrency market maker B2C2, said.
“It’s nearly impossible to open an account for crypto in the UK. The problem is that in the UK there is a perception that banks have issues with anti-money laundering and decided to be a lot more conservative,” the former Goldman Sachs trader added.
Some noted there are certain factors that support the country’s position in this market. But others claimed the matter is highlighted too much.
“The City of London, taken as a whole, has the collective experience to make considered and forward-thinking decisions. This experience manifests itself in many ways, from the efficiency of trade execution to KYC & AML regulations and from the strength of our legal system to our culture of effective corporate governance,” Nauman Anees, co-founder of multi-asset financial & cryptocurrency trading exchange Think Coin, told news.bitcoin.com.
These are the reasons why Britain dominates the global foreign exchange markets, and it is unthinkable the country will not continue to be one of the key players in the crypto field.
“London is the dominant player in global financial markets thanks to the strength of its regulatory infrastructure and position as a gateway and conduit between every key global market – and while the crypto markets are novel in many ways, these key contextual advantages still apply. Moreover, events in recent years show the crypto space is one where ‘first mover advantage’ does not apply. Repeated hacks of key exchanges along with the slow pace of international regulation has meant that many ‘early adopters’ have not been positioned to fully develop and grow with the market, meaning that a more cautious approach will likely prove to pay the biggest dividends later,” he added.
The idea of a corporate resistance to the adoption of bitcoin, ethereum, and its counterparts is misleading.
“Most of the major investment banks have opened crypto desks, and the ones which haven’t already announced are undoubtedly experimenting behind the scenes,” Anees explained.
