Predicting outstanding development for cryptocurrency institutions, Standard Chartered director: A field that all financial institutions must participate in

Standard Chartered Bank director José Viñals stated in an interview that cryptocurrency is a field in which all financial institutions must participate. Not only does he support it, but he also expects that large enterprises and banks will follow Standard Chartered Bank's lead and join the cryptocurrency trend in the future.

Standard Chartered Bank director José Viñals, in an interview with CNBC, revealed his support for the cryptocurrency industry and believes that specialized cryptocurrency institutions will experience significant growth.

How Will Cryptocurrencies be Adopted?

The host asked about the adoption of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. José Viñals skipped NFTs and mentioned that institutions related to crypto will see remarkable developments, especially in businesses related to cryptocurrencies, an area all financial institutions must engage in, including Standard Chartered.

He mentioned the custody business recently launched by Standard Chartered. The head of the bank's venture capital and innovation department revealed that the custody trial was expected to start by the end of last year, with Viñals anticipating that large international banks would follow suit.

However, he also touched on regulatory issues, stating that while cryptocurrencies need to ensure they bring significant opportunities for innovation, they also need to enter the mainstream system without affecting financial and currency stability or fostering financial crime.

Regulatory Concerns

Viñals pointed out the opacity of cryptocurrencies, leading to the potential for them to be used for financial crimes. He mentioned that having a dedicated regulatory body for digital assets, allowing a coexistence of good regulatory frameworks and innovation, would be much better than the wild west of problems.

Regarding the recent regulatory actions in the U.S. towards the crypto sector, Viñals stated:

Just as the internet is borderless, so are crypto assets, hence the real need for an internationally accepted regulatory framework that connects different countries for regulation; otherwise, it will undoubtedly be a nightmare.

Viñals noted that many regulatory bodies have begun formulating regulations, with some countries and jurisdictions starting to issue relevant licenses. However, most of the crypto industry is currently operating without any regulatory structure.

He believed that the crypto industry truly needs a sound regulatory mechanism to ensure the industry can continue to contribute and bring about economic prosperity.

Standard Chartered had revealed plans to launch custody services, a digital asset trading platform, and a Tether-like stablecoin last year, but it seems they are still in the preparation stages.