Guidepost Solutions CEO Security Expert: Cryptocurrency Regulations Are Improving

The security expert Julie Myers Wood believes that regulations are starting to improve in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. This would clearly have a positive impact in the crypto space since companies will be able to plan their operations and investments while investors can be sure that they are being protected.

Guidepost Solutions’ CEO says that regulators will be working in order to protect investors from bad actors in the industry. During the last years, several scammers targeted crypto investors, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars.

As reported by the Asia Times, Wood says that regulators are concerned about the latest suspicious activity reports (SARS) in the cryptocurrency market. Apparently, there are 1,500 cryptocurrency-based SARS every month.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the popular cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift, was involved in money laundering activities. At the same time, other countries such as the UK or Spain are searching for different ways to regulate the cryptocurrency market.

Countries such as Japan, Thailand, Switzerland or Malta have created clear regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrency companies to operate. The United States is still behind the curve and could take some more time for the legal framework to be shaped.

Cryptocurrencies have been growing all over the world during the last years. In 2017, the market experienced an important bull run that ended with Bitcoin reaching $20,000 dollars at the end of the year. However, since that moment, Bitcoin is in a bear trend, losing 65% of its value since its all-time high.

As the time passes, investors are now waiting for institutions to bring money to the market and trigger a new bull run. But this needs time since there are no regulated institutional-grade platforms. At the same time, if there are no regulations, wealthy investors will take a longer time to start investing in cryptocurrencies.

Wood Commented On The Matter:

“Institutional investors who are concerned about cyber breaches and market manipulation may factor this into their risk calculation and investment strategy.”

In the near future, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is planning to launch the so-called Bakkt platform. The main intention with it is to offer a cryptocurrency platform specifically designed for institutions around the world.

Additionally, Woods says that regulators could likely migrate existing financial laws to the cryptocurrency market. This would help the cryptocurrency and blockchain market to be more mature and the industry to prosper in a better way.

Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) are among the most important regulations that regulatory watchdogs are paying attention to. In this way, it will be possible to allow financial regulators to determine the legitimacy of cryptocurrency transactions in a very easy way.