SEC Crackdown on Crypto Makes Industry Move Attractive to Investors

A crackdown by the SEC on the crypto industry in the US is already having an unexpected effect, with more market players now saying they want to invest in the space, according to a new survey.

Specifically, 60% of respondents in the survey said they see the recent regulatory crackdown on the crypto industry as a positive sign, with some arguing that regulation also brings the clarity that traditional investors need.

Among the regulatory actions that have been taken in the US in recent months is an investigation into the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, as well as the crypto lender Celsius (CEL), which is currently engaged in bankruptcy protection proceedings.

The survey was conducted on 564 respondents by Bloomberg Markets Live, and the results were first reported by Bloomberg earlier this week.

One of the industry players who said he welcomed regulations and increased enforcement was Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. According to him, a regulated environment “opens the doors” for professional investors to enter the crypto space.

“I’m in the ‘yes’ camp. As a professional investor, you need a regulated investment opportunity and it opens the doors for more professional investors to get involved in crypto, if it’s more regulated. The more they can get crypto out of the Wild West and into traditional investing, the better off it’s going to be,” Gaffney told Bloomberg in a comment.

Meanwhile, survey respondents were also slightly more optimistic on the prospects of bitcoin (BTC) this time around than during the last survey in July.

Back then, more respondents believed bitcoin was more likely to first fall to $10,000 than to rise to $30,000. Now, however, almost half of the respondents said they believe the coin will continue trading between $17,600 and $25,000 until the end of the year.

Asked about bitcoin’s correlation with other assets, and its recently high correlation with technology stocks, 42% of respondents said they believe the tech stock correlation will stay the same for the coming 12 months. At the same time, close to half of all respondents – or 43% – said they plan to increase their bitcoin exposure over that time period.

Lastly, with roughly half of the respondents referring to crypto as either a “Ponzi” or the “future,” the space remains a divisive topic, to say the least.

“It’s almost like a religion — if you believe, you will always believe no matter the price or the headwinds,” Victoria Greene of G Squared Private Wealth, summarized the finding by telling Bloomberg.