Ryan Selkis, founder of Messari asserted that now is a favorable time for market reorganisation even if a dark cloud still hangs over much of the cryptocurrency sector. As a result, some businesses are being forced out of the competition, and those that are remaining will have opportunities to grow.
“Bear Markets are good for getting the right people in the room” and washing away “all the dead wood,” said Selkis in an interview.
Selkis also says that regulators should be part of the crypto conversation. He noted in this year’s Messari Mainnet 2022 Conference that multiple officials have been incorporated as speakers, such as representatives from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Their involvement in the flow of conversations reflects a shift towards industry-regulator cooperation.
In a fireside chat on stage, Selkis and CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham discussed how regulation might benefit the cryptocurrency industry as clearer rules for businesses are created and the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission’s jurisdiction is established (SEC).
Selkis spoke with Sanjeev Bhasker, the U.S. Digital Currency Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Digital Currency Initiative, during a different panel. The panel talked on how using cryptocurrencies affects digital privacy, with emphasis on the application of the Bank Secrecy Act and transmitter regulations to DeFi, Web3 applications and P2P crypto traders.
Selkis thinks that as developers are “pushing the envelope” of what’s possible in the crypto world, there will inevitably be regulatory friction. He claimed that, “Things break and people get in trouble—that’s really been the nature of crypto since day one.”
In another conversation with Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao during the conference, CZ shared the same belief that a four-year crypto market cycle is normal and that a bear market is healthier in the long term than a seemingly never-ending upward trend. According to him, there was also a lot of progress in the positive direction for regulatory frameworks.
