‘It’s Only A Matter Of Time Before Stablecoins Replaces The Dollar’ – Takeaways From Winklevoss Capital’s Sterling Witzke
Tipped to give way for cryptocurrencies in the near future, conventional fiat currencies are staring at a bleak future. In fact, their fate could be sealed in a couple of years from now if what venture capitalists like Winklevoss Capital partner, Sterling Witzke is anything to go by.
Sterling Witzke is slowly becoming a notably vocal voice of change who believes in funding startups in the crypto and blockchain world. She says that, unlike the leading fiat like the dollar, Euro, sterling pound and Japanese Yen, Stablecoins are better suited for what the internet payments need.
From An Interview At The Sidelines Of The Crypto Finance Conference In St. Moritz, Switzerland
Concerned over the cryptocurrency industry’s lack of proper legal frameworks on coin regulation, security, and the future, she sees Stablecoins as the heir apparent of the throne held by fiat. She said it all in a one-on-one interview with Cointelegraph’s Ana Berman.
According to her, the fact that this fiat-pegged cryptocurrency will grow at the same pace as the industry makes it an ideal medium of exchange in the future. She said this while expounding on her earlier sentiments when she had urged institutional investors to possibly desist from investing in crypto just yet.
Sterling Witzke has now been a partner at the now-popular venture capital company, Winklevoss Capital, for five years. And interacting with the prominent Winklevoss twins who jointly held 1% of all BTC in circulation places her at the same level as the industry’s prominent personalities.
Time For Regulatory Clarity In The Industry Is Long Overdue
In the wake of Gemini’s “Crypto needs rules” ad, the whole industry now thinks that regulation shouldn’t remain a mere talk anymore. And according to Sterling Witzke, the fact that Gemini is a staunch supporter of regulation is good for the industry.
To her, participants in the vibrant world of crypto require to transact in a safe, well-protected ecosystem. She says that everyone eyeing a stake in the cryptosphere deserves to feel what people in other industries experience.
But the question on regulation hasn’t been an agreeable one. Many are concerned that by introducing this idea, the whole idea of decentralization will be thrown into jeopardy and it may even lose its original meaning.
On this, Witzke disagrees. She says that regulation will not emasculate the ethos that informed the original idea of creating cryptocurrencies. This is because there’s a clear distinction between the levels where regulation and decentralization are to take place.
Furthermore, regulation cannot and will not affect the protocol level because decentralized in built-in and can’t be altered. However, application of the coins is where regulation is required since it is where humans are susceptible to fraudulent schemes. And that’s when oversight comes into play!
Optimism following the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s stance on crypto
Well, the SEC has admitted that it will be looking at crypto more closely in 2019. The commission is hoping to craft a nice way of introducing regulation on security tokens in a bid to spur mass adoption.
The industry has lots of firms who are eager to raise capital but can’t do it because within the industry is a grey area. With the entry of SEC, however, it is highly likely that all fears on clarity will be allayed. Sterling Witzke possibly can’t wait to see that be a reality, especially because she had earlier warned potential institutional investors from splurging their funds on it.
The Role Of Winklevoss Capital In The Whole Issue On Regulation
Once Stablecoins fully replaces fiat currencies, there’s no doubt it will pave way for traders of financial securities to freely carry on their businesses. And with Winklevoss Capital fully aware of this, as postulated by Sterling Witzke, the firm’s founding duo are now getting involved in coming up with the rules and regulations that will eventually govern the transactions.
The main motivating factor behind Winklevoss Capital getting involved in it isn’t for the mere benefits later when sanity arrives. The company wouldn’t want the authorities to draft and enforce the rules with an iron fist, yet it possibly doesn’t know all the ins and outs of the industry.
In fact, drafting of the regulations roadmap isn’t something that Tyler and Cameron started working on just yesterday. They have been very proactive since over a year ago and were even at the center of the rollout of the Virtual Commodities Association (VCA). They were involved in it alongside Gemini.
Why Institutional Investors Should Invest In Crypto With A Pinch Of Salt
Winklevoss Capital majorly casts its eye on the upcoming crypto startups. But that does not mean it can’t advise individuals and companies observing the happenings in the cryptosphere.
Sterling Witzke is cautious that there’s no guarantee that 2019 is the right period for many of them to wage on crypto-based assets. She draws this from the happenings of 2019 when the ICO boom and the value of BTC created a frenzy that later ended as a calamity in the industry.
She says that it is wise for institutional investors to pause and watch until parity is restored and the ecosystem finally becomes safe for their money. Basically, they should relax until customer security is guaranteed, something she can’t predict that it will happen in 2019. For those who can’t wait, they should trade with caution!
What’s Happening Is Normal In Any Emerging Industry
The threats faced by the crypto industry are not entirely new. They will not pull it down either. However, even if the industry is a free market, there’s a big need for its participants to exercise caution.
The kind of protection required is that which will protect crypto investors from the rampant volatilities associated with cryptocurrencies. In fact, drawing its lessons from the infamous happenings of December 2017, they need the very similar confidence that traders in the ordinary public equities enjoy.
The Winklevoss Capital partner believes that, even though 2017 is not gone, the activities that took place back then were for the good of the industry’s progress. It is because of the many fake ICOs that the industry today is pursuing a regulation. And it has to be accepted if the industry is to last beyond 100 years.
There Are Those Who View Bitcoin As A Store Of Value And The See-Sawing Of Its Value Is Okay
Well, like in any marketplace, speculators and those who believe in price predictions are tolerable. Those who drove the value of BTC and reaped from it are now sitting on the fence, perhaps enjoying their returns. And there’s nothing with having them, even though the value of this pioneering cryptocurrency has since slumped.
The see-sawing of the price of Bitcoin is justifiable, and rightly so at a time when the industry wants such issues as scalability and user experience to be given much emphasis. Today, it has dawned to the major players in the scene that, without taking into consideration what the participants need, many aren’t going to accept crypto instead of dollars.
With The ICO Frenzy Now Over, The Focus Is On Stablecoins And Other Tokenized Assets
Well, Sterling Witzke believes that even with crypto revolution, one coin will stand tall. She agrees that Stablecoins are better suited for the future and will most definitely usurp the dollar. According to her, the fact that fiat wasn’t designed for the age of the internet gives Stablecoins and other tokenized assets a huge competitive edge.
Stablecoins and Blockchain is a match made for each other. What’s even more amazing, this fiat-pegged coin is not volatile and thus has the right features of an ideal cryptocurrency for day-to-day usage.
What Winklevoss Capital Has In Store For 2019
For a company that has a reputation for funding potentially profitable Blockchain-based as well as non-blockchain-based projects, 2019 will possibly be exciting. This venture capital firm has previously funded a host of startups in the IT, e-commerce, and international logistics sectors.
In 2019, investments will be channeled on long-term projects, especially those whose projects are ambitious and will run for several decades. Basically, Witzke and her partners are looking at a project with a long plan, especially on its infrastructure.
Unfortunately, though, there’s no startup that has presented a pitch with the kind of requirements that the team wants. Most of the startups that have approached Winklevoss Capital have not yet convinced them that theirs is a long-term project. But they are optimistic that fund-worthy entrepreneurs are on the way.
Besides Blockchain-Based Startups, Winklevoss Capital Is Keen On Another Niche
This company would be interested in funding companies in the remittances sector, similar to the vibrant gaming industry. Ideally, it is the gaming world’s suitability to Blockchain that is attracting Winklevoss Capital.
Finally, How Much Longer Before The Mass Adoption Of Stablecoins?
With almost everyone now convinced that fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies hold the key to the future of internet payments, many are wondering when they will be out for mass acceptance. Well, according to Sterling Witzke, a lot needs to be ironed out before then.
She says the issue around infrastructure and usability is still not sorted. And so, it might still take a couple of years for it to be finally regarded as a mainstream medium of exchange.
