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The crypto space has been under increasing pressure from regulators and financial entities over the past years. Despite the lack of regulatory frameworks and the millions of people flocking to crypto amid the growing economic uncertainty, the possibility of a crackdown on crypto seems more likely by the day.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently warned exchanges of possible violations and threatened to sue Paxos. This, combined with the ongoing banking crisis has resulted in an increasingly unstable financial ecosystem for exchanges and other crypto projects to operate.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported Binance’s struggles to find banking partners willing to receive dollar deposits from its users, forcing the exchange to rely on a middleman and notify its users that “some USD deposit services will be temporarily impacted” over a week ago.
With investors and users becoming increasingly restless about the future of their holdings, uncertainty is running amok in the crypto space. Financial expert and Sandy Point Holdings’ CEO Brook Taube believes that the fear, while understandable, is unwarranted in the long term.
“Blockchain and crypto are here to stay. Challenges abound, but the transactional, cost, security, and transparency (where appropriate) benefits will outshine the fears,” says Sandy Point Holdings’ CEO Brook Taube. “Regulation will be an ongoing issue and required, but it is likely to be a slalom course around too little and too much regulation. In the end, the benefits outweigh the fears around further development in finance and other industries.”
While Taube’s positivity has been shared by many experts, firms like JP Morgan predict that the SEC’s views of staking services as security offerings are just the beginning. This could not only have a negative impact on major exchanges but also on already-affected crypto startups and other small projects relying on features like staking and yield farming.
Given the young nature of blockchain and crypto, maintaining innovation in the space is essential to ensure its adoption and the continued interest of VCs and other investors, which is why Taube believes startups should prioritize compliance despite the lack of clear guidelines and a solid regulatory framework.
“Regulatory agencies can be capricious and write their own rules, so it is impossible to predict evolving rules and behavior on their end,” says Taube. “The best and most important thing startups and crypto developers can do is to hire top-notch advisors and team members who can help them balance compliance with innovation as we continue to navigate this slalom course."
"Regulatory actions against the crypto industry have so far been difficult to interpret and don’t appear to have reduced uncertainty in the market. Regulation can and will expand as the market expands, and the focus should be on supporting the expansion of this market and transparency,” adds Taube.
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