'There's a microscope on crypto' but regulation will bring confidence: Aussie Web3 founders look ahead

It was a tricky old year for crypto, 2022, which is probably the understatement of the hour. But Lisa Teh and Andrew Grech – two Australian Web3 business founders – can see a positive path in 2023.

‘Fortune favours the bold’

– Lisa Teh, Co-Founder of Web3 marketing agency Mooning.

Hi Lisa. Thanks for chatting. What insights or learnings have you gained as a Web3 business operator and/or investor in the crazy year that was 2022?

You have to be really comfortable with uncertainty! Haha! It was such a roller coaster of a year and this industry is certainly not for the fainthearted.

It’s also one where there is no playbook, there’s minimum regulation and a lack of understanding with the masses – meaning you need to be willing to be patient, willing to educate and not be afraid of making mistakes.

How does “crypto” repair? What do you think needs to happen to see trust and market momentum return?

There’s a microscope on crypto as people still don’t understand it. This means every bad incident is amplified, giving many non-believers endless ammunition to keep discrediting it, e.g. FTX.

To date, crypto has predominantly been used for trading, so mostly speculative purposes. What would help mass adoption is seeing more widespread acceptance by large B2C brands.

We’re already seeing big companies such as Starbucks and Gucci accept crypto as a form of payment, though, and this is likely to increase in 2023. Although at a potentially slow rate after FTX – thanks Sam.

Governments also need to step in and help regulate the industry. This will give consumers and businesses more confidence to start investing in it as a use of payment or to trade.

1. By the end of 2023 barely anyone will be using the term NFT. They’ll be using terms like digital collectibles, digital certificates and digital membership instead.

— Lisa Teh 🇦🇺 (@lisateh_) December 12, 2022

What do you think the crypto industry should brace itself for in 2023?

The market still has a long way to go to recover. It would be great to see some success stories, not just people who have been scammed in the market!

I think we’re still going to see a lot of VCs continue to invest in Web3 technology, just a little more conservatively. There will be a real focus on looking at whether founders have run businesses before or not. This space is still so new so you really need business experience to give you the best chance of succeeding in such an infant and tumultuous landscape.

Fortune favours the bold however, and history has shown that some of the world’s biggest companies have been built during bear markets. So now is a good time to invest in building the future of the internet. This is your chance to not just be a part of history, but to actually write it.

‘Regulation will lead the narrative’

– Andrew Grech, CEO of Cryptospend, a Visa-backed crypto payments startup.

Hi, Andrew. What insights and learnings have come to light for you from the shocker that was Crypto 2022?

While 2022 was a challenging year for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole, it was not necessarily a bad year overall. This is highlighted by November’s meltdown of FTX. While that has been bad for crypto, the blame should not be focused on crypto, rather, the blame should be put on FTX.

Crypto has still operated without a hitch through the whole debacle.

On a personal level, though, CryptoSpend had its best year yet, with a significant increase in users, volume, and new product features. This highlights the fact that despite the challenges and setbacks faced by the industry, there are still many opportunities for growth and success in the cryptocurrency space.

How does crypto fix itself? What needs to happen to see trust and market momentum return?

Crypto won’t just fix itself, and there’s a lot that needs to happen to see trust in the market return.

I think market momentum will come following increased consumer trust in platforms that allow them to easily access crypto. Regulation is key to this. As it stands, it’s too easy to start a crypto brokerage with little regulatory insight.

Specifically, there needs to be more consumer protection measures in place that are mandated for a crypto exchange to operate. In saying that, there needs to be a balance where the bar for entry isn’t so massively high that it cuts out new innovations in the space, but also doesn’t hinder customer safety and strong AML/CTF.

What do you think we can we expect in 2023 for the crypto industry?

Given how much FTX blindsided the public, the US Government, and auditors, we are likely to see some movement there in regulation which would likely be followed closely here.

Regulation is what will lead the narrative, as customers more than ever are wary of what platforms they use. Unfortunately, though, there have been, and will continue to be narratives that are misleading, focusing the blame of FTX on crypto itself, when really, this is just like any other case of fraud.

In terms of price movements, there is no doubt we are in a bear market, but there is no telling when or at what point the bottom will be. I think a lot of this will depend on how crypto is perceived by the public and one large aspect of that is consumer protection i.e. regulation of the space.

These interviews were edited lightly for clarity. The contents of this article should not be taken as financial advice.