A more sophisticated crypto market will show long-term commitment in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) as different products and platforms are developed, says Jeffrey Kirk, Managing Partner of Appleby (BVI) Limited addressing the opportunities for business growth in the British Virgin Islands during a panel discussion hosted by BVI Finance and Fusang, the digital exchange for security tokens and crypto.
Kirk explained that the “crypto winter”, a term used to describe the current prolonged contraction in the cryptocurrency market, is a growth opportunity for the digital assets business in the BVI.
Addressing the impact of the crypto winter on the digital assets industry, Fusang CEO Henry Chong stated, “Actually, I think that this is going to impact the digital asset industry extremely negatively, but I think it's going to be the best thing that can happen to the digital asset industry.”
Chong explained, “There are a lot of major tokens, like Bitcoin, and for better or worse, Bitcoin has a real use case. People can and already use it as a store of value and a medium of exchange.” He said that when you scroll down the coin market cap list, you quickly start looking at things that look a little shakier. “This crypto winter is going to help clear out a lot of projects the way that the 2001 bubble burst did for the internet sector. Then we can refocus on the original point of blockchain technology. What was the real use case we were supposed to be delivering on? Again, what am I getting if you're using these tokens as investments? Then we can start to answer these questions and bring us into this wave of Crypto 2.0.”
Bank of Asia (BVI) Limited Vice President, Deon Vanterpool, addressed the relationship between the drop in cryptocurrency prices and the increase in global interest rates, indicating that the crypto industry is now mainstream.
“There's always been a discussion about the correlation between the crypto industry market and the traditional market. The traditional market is taking quite a bit of impact based on the global market factors that are taking place with the geopolitical, interest rate hikes and various factors,” said Vanterpool.
He continued, “We are seeing all those factors play out across the board in terms of not just industry partners or businesses, but also across exchanges and markets, whether traditional or crypto. Crypto and digital assets are quickly becoming mainstream and are part of the future of the markets globally. So, I am happy to see that trend from where we sit, and it strengthens our value proposition as Bank of Asia.”
Frederick Fung, Chairman, Association of Crypto Currency, added, “With this current crash, this crypto winter, it's not over. We've seen a lot of forced liquidations; there are a lot of people who are also over-leveraged, not just in retail but even in institutions. While all these liquidations are happening, we're looking at this from a wake-up call or back to basics fundamentals.”
Among other topics discussed were the trends in applications, actions to be taken by firms, educational opportunities, filling knowledge gaps, reviewing the BVI’s current position, maintaining competitiveness, and the implementation and effects of the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) legislation.
The panel was a part of the Unlocking Corporate Value via Tokenisation webinar held on June 21 and streamed live to over 200 registrants from over 27 countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the BVI.
The event also had presentations on the “BVI: A Digital Asset Jurisdiction” and the “Power of Tokenisation via Digital Assets.”
Watch the entire webinar here.
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For further information, please contact:
Adrianna Soverall
Marketing and Media Relations Coordinator
asoverall@bvifinance.vg |Tel: 284-852-1957