Crypto Leaders See Monetary Policy and Stablecoins Reshaping the Sector
Crypto industry leaders gathered at the CONNECT event in Seoul to discuss the impact of macro policy and market structure on digital-asset adoption. They highlighted how looser monetary policy, Wall Street's move onto blockchain, and growing stablecoin use are reshaping capital flows through the sector.
Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer at Maelstrom, predicts that U.S. and China's monetary stimulus could boost crypto asset prices as policymakers finance AI infrastructure and debt. Hayes notes that AI companies need trillions of dollars for data centers, even as the prices of their services fall.
Industry leaders also noted that banks and asset managers retain client control in blockchain markets, with intermediaries persisting despite crypto's original disintermediation promises. Franklin Templeton favors tokenized money market funds over launching its own stablecoin, while firms weigh treasury adoption and Ether purchases against traditional share buybacks.
Catrina Wang, general partner at Portal Ventures, says banks and asset managers have an advantage in blockchain markets because they already control client relationships. Todd McDonald, co-founder of R3, says public blockchains also let institutions reach customers beyond their own private networks.
Justin Kugel, executive vice president of growth at World Liberty Financial, says crypto's promise of removing middlemen is giving way to a continued role for intermediaries because many users do not want to manage assets or evaluate risk on their own.