-
NYSE
President
Lynn
Martin
is
open
to
offering
crypto
trading,
but
the
lack
of
clear
regulatory
guidance
is
an
obstacle,
she
says. -
U.S.
regulatory
environment
will
improve
in
the
next
couple
years
regardless
of
the
election
outcome,
Tom
Farley,
the
CEO
of
Bullish
and
Martin’s
predecessor
at
NYSE,
predicted.
AUSTIN,
TX
—
The
New
York
Stock
Exchange
would
consider
offering
cryptocurrency
trading
if
the
regulatory
status
of
such
an
expansion
by
the
stock
market
giant
was
clearer,
the
company’s
president
said.
“If
there
was
clear
regulatory
guidance
[in
the
U.S.],
it
would
be
an
opportunity
to
look
at,”
Lynn
Martin
said
Wednesday
during
a
panel
discussion
at
Consensus
2024
in
Austin,
Texas.
U.S-listed
spot
bitcoin
(BTC)
exchange-traded
funds
(ETF)
amassing
$58
billion
of
assets
is
“a
strong
sign”
that
there’s
demand
for
regulated
crypto
products,
she
added.
While
traditional
financial
markets
and
digital
assets
are
increasingly
getting
more
intertwined
with
more
traditional
financial
heavyweights
offering
crypto
products,
the
lack
of
regulatory
clarity
is
still
weighing
on
the
industry
slowing
innovation,
Martin
and
Tom
Farley,
CEO
of
crypto
exchange
Bullish,
discussed
during
the
panel
discussion.
(Bullish
is
the
parent
company
of
CoinDesk.
Farley
previously
had
Martin’s
job
at
NYSE.)
“The
fact
that
you’ve
seen
$58
billion
or
so
come
to
the
ETFs
has
been
a
strong
sign
that
the
market
is
looking
for
regulation
in
traditional
structures,”
Martin
said.
“So,
hopefully,
the
[U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission]
saw
the
inflows
and
said,
‘Hey,
this
makes
a
lot
of
sense,’
considering
bitcoin
ETFs
have
been
a
tremendous
success.”
NYSE’s
U.S.-based
rival,
the
Chicago
Mercantile
Exchange
(CME),
a
giant
in
regulated
crypto
futures
trading,
is
planning
to
launch
spot
crypto
trading
to
clients,
the
Financial
Times
reported
earlier
this
month.
Farley
highlighted
the
sudden
change
of
heart
towards
crypto
in
U.S.
politics,
including
the
ousting
of
the
anti-crypto
chair
of
the
Federal
Deposit
Insurance
Corp.
(FDIC),
the
passage
of
the
Financial
Innovation
and
Technology
for
the
21st
Century
Act
(FIT21)
bill
in
the
House,
and
Republican
presidential
frontrunner
Donald
Trump
doubling
down
supporting
crypto
in
a
rapid
chain
of
events.
“Five
years
of
evolution
happened
in
five
minutes,”
he
said.
“I’m
really
optimistic
about
what
it
means
in
this
country.
I
think,
just
like
in
Europe,
just
like
in
Hong
Kong,
you’re
going
to
have
regulators
codified,
‘Hey,
what’s
your
reasonable
digital
assets
industry
look
like.'”
“You’re
gonna
see
progression
in
2024
and
2025,
irrespective
of
whether
or
not
it’s
Trump
or
Biden
or
Michelle
Obama
[will
be
president],”
he
added.
Martin
said
she
continues
to
be
optimistic
about
using
blockchain
technology
to
make
financial
processes
more
efficient
and
transparent,
especially
for
less
liquid
assets
such
as
municipal
bonds.
However,
Farley
said
traditional,
real-world
assets
won’t
migrate
to
digital
asset
rails
en
masse
given
regulators’
distrust
towards
public
blockchain
plumbing.
“Regulators
want
to
get
their
power-hungry,
sticky
little
fingers
on
everything,”
he
said.
“How
do
you
get
your
fingers
on
the
Solana?
How
do
you
get
your
fingers
onto
something
that’s
decentralized?”
Hence,
regulators
would
likely
push
TradFi
firms
towards
developing
private
blockchains
instead
of
using
the
existing
blockchains
for
settlement,
he
said.