In a recent interview, Alexander Heptner, CEO of BitMEX, shared his thoughts on institutional investors who he believes still have an appetite for cryptocurrency and Ethereum.
Speaking at the Token2049 conference in Singapore on September 28, the head of crypto told Cointelegraph that during this bear market, there was not “just a drop in institutional appetite for cryptocurrencies.”
He added that institutions and players in the financial industry typically use bear markets to innovate. There is much more pressure in a bull market, but a bear market offers the luxury of more time.
Heptner also notes that adoption in the financial industry has a long-term horizon, so institutions will buy and hold crypto assets, while the opposite can now be said about retail.
Asked what would end a bear market: institutions or retail, he said retail is still out as institutions continue to push, before adding:
“I think organizations are getting ready to provide services now and retail is going to come back and push it back.”
The BitMEX CEO is also convinced that organizations will start returning to Ethereum now that it has moved to proof of stake and ESG issues.
“Ethereum is the perfect protocol for building something,” he commented, before adding, “This is the perfect public event for building ESG-compliant financial products,” referring to the recent merger.
ESG compliance is important at this point, he said, adding that organizations “can again offer truly customized products to the general public while still identifying one of the compliance points.”
On this topic: Three-quarters of organizations used cryptocurrency in three years: Ripple
The $3000 figure for Ether (ETH) was mentioned at the end of the year, and Höptner sees this as an opportunity, especially now that the network is greener and used by major banks. ETH is currently trading 3.8% in the last 24 hours at $1,336, so it still has a long way to go in the next three months.
Cointelegraph last week reported that liquid staking products such as Lido Staked Ether (stETH) are more profitable and capital-efficient than regular ETH contracts. As such, it will increase in popularity while holding ETH may become obsolete.
