The founder of Onchain Capital, and host of CNBC Africa’s ‘Crypto Trader’ show, Ran Neu-Ner, recently discussed his outlook for cryptocurrency regulation, initial coin offering (ICOs), and shared his outlook for several top cryptocurrencies markets. Mr. Neu-Ner described Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum as markets that he intends to ‘HODL’, adding that right now, he is passing on BTC in favor of more “exciting” virtual currency markets.
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Onchain Capital Founder Warns That Lack of Regulations May Stifle Entire Cryptocurrency Industry
In an interview with CNBC‘s Fast Money, Mr. Neu-Ner described the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as having taken an appropriate position in cautiously monitoring the cryptocurrency markets up until now, however, warned that a failure to introduce clear regulatory apparatus pertaining to virtual currencies may be to the severe detriment of the United States’ burgeoning cryptocurrency industry.
“I think the initiative by the SEC was a great one, but I think the joke is on the SEC now because they need to come up with regulation now, if they don’t come up with regulation, they may stifle an entire industry,” he said.
Mr. Neu-Ner added: “Now I know they are balancing investor protection with the need to grow an industry, but if you look to places like Japan and Singapore, they’ve got thriving ICOs, and they’ve got a thriving new industry, and my fear, having travelled extensively to that region, and spoken to all the founders and the legislators there, is that the US actually may be falling behind, and that we may not get a silicon valley here in the USA, because it may all fall into the legislations that are favourable towards these ICOs, and have got some kind of regulation in place.”
Mr. Neu-Ner Warns of Potential “Brains Drain” if Regulators Fail to Act
When questioned as to whether he believed that continual innovation in the cryptocurrency sector was contingent on the legitimation of the ICO industry, the Onchain Capital Founder stated “Well you can get the innovation without the ICOs, and that’s what the U.S. people are doing, they are establishing companies in places like Malta and Gibraltar, and Singapore, and place where there are favourable tax incentives, and places where the regulation speaks well towards ICOs.”
Mr. Neu-Ner also warned that ”the U.S may get a brains drain towards those areas – if you go to Singapore [or] Japan, you’re speaking to Americans, and they’re there because they want to launch their ICOs.”
“I think the SEC did adopt a responsible approach by taking their time to see what is happening with the industry, but now we know that crypto is real, we know [that] crypto, and the blockchain, is not going anywhere anytime soon. And now they’ve got to come to the party, and give us some kind of regulation, so we know where we stand,” he concluded.
Onchain Capital Founder Passes on BTC
Mr. Neu-Ner also participated in Fast Money’s “HODL or FODL?” segment, in which he gave his assessment of the outlook for several major cryptocurrencies.
Regarding BTC, he stated “I like bitcoin a lot, but I’m going to FODL. Mr. Neu-Ner stated that although he believes that the price of bitcoin is currently “low,” and that the price “is going to continue to go up […] slowly and in a stable way,” Mr. Neu-Ner emphasized that ”there are more exciting cryptocurrencies out there, and if you’re going to ask me whether I’m going to put my money in bitcoin, or something more exciting, I’m going to go with something more exciting.”
When asked of if his ‘FODL’ response to bitcoin was due to greater institutional investment dampening down the volatility of the BTC markets, Mr. Neu-Ner stated “a little bit of that, but, a lot of the money is going from bitcoin, and even Ethereum and the more established coins, into this ICO frenzy.”
Mr. Neu-Ner continued: “There’s this frenzy happening which is not on the markets, […] where hundreds of millions of dollars are going into ICOs – where’s that money coming from? It’s not coming from fiat, it’s people cashing in their bitcoin and their Ethereum, and when they cash in the markets are going to go down.” Despite such, Mr. Neu-Ner does hold a bullish outlook for BTC and ETH, adding “That said, I do think the institutions are going to come in towards the end of this year – they’re going to go to bitcoin and Ethereum first, and then the market is going to go up.”
Mr. Neu-Ner Bullish on BCH and ETH
When asked of his outlook for Bitcoin Cash, Mr. Neu-Ner resolutely stated that he’s “HODLing,” adding “I think there’s a lot of potential for Bitcoin Cash, I like the team […] that are driving it – it’s all the old bitcoin people.”
Mr. Neu-Ner jokingly predicted that his stance would lead him to be “murdered on Twitter” by “the trolls and the bitcoin maximalists,” adding that “I love both Bitcoin Cash and [bitcoin] equally, but if you ask me where I put my money right now, Bitcoin Cash has more potential.”
Regarding Ethereum, Mr. Neu-Ner states “HODL for sure,” adding ”they’ve got the biggest community in the industry – thousands of people, the smartest people in the room. They’ve got use cases, [and] they’re solving their scaling issues […] so I’m holding Ethereum.”
Mr. Neu-Ner Throws XRP in the Garbage
When of XRP, the Onchain Capital founder stated: “Ripple I’m throwing in the garbage.” Mr. Neu-Ner elaborated, seeking to distinguish between “Ripple, the company – one of the best companies [he] know[s],” and “XRP, the token – [of which he] can’t work out what it’s used for.”
Mr. Neu-Ner stated that “Ripple, the company, does the banking systems, it ’replaces’ bank to bank transfers, primarily international money transfers” – adding that “you don’t need the XRP token to do that.”
Mr. Neu-Ner concluded that “So as far as I know, I can’t find a use for the token, so I’m out.” Adding “it’s centralized, and that defeats the whole purpose of blockchain.”
Do you agree with Mr. Neu-Ner’s predictions for markets? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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