SBF 'optimistic' about institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies in 2022

FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried is optimistic that the transparency provided by global regulators will spur institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies this year and in the years to come.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Jan. 3, SBF talked about crypto regulation, institutional adoption, and the Metaverse. Despite market volatility towards the end of 2021, SBF is "optimistic" for 2022.

"What makes me optimistic is that there is more regulatory clarity in the US and globally, which I think will greatly aid institutional adoption."

Asked how he thinks institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies will accelerate in the future, he replied: “A lot of it also depends on what happens on the regulatory side.”

His view that regulatory clarity encourages more institutions to grow in cryptocurrencies echoes those of Nansen’s Beili Baraki and Metrika’s Nikos Andrikogiannopoulos, as Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 3.

He raised the possibility that there could be a "wave" of such adoption if jurisdictions "feel that their regulation is becoming clearer". However, he added, "it's going to be a long process, probably over a couple of years, not like a tidal wave."

Additionally, he noted that “a number of different governments have announced that regulatory frameworks will be in place next year.” Some governments have struggled to develop a suitable regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Another source of optimism for SBF appears to be the dynamism with which institutions are beginning to flood the cryptocurrency ecosystem. He said:

"Essentially every big financial institution, every big bank, every big investment bank, every pension fund that I've ever talked to, they're staring at this space."

When asked what the combination of cryptocurrencies and the metaverse would look like, the crypto billionaire noted that since there are billions of gamers around the world, NFTs in video games will likely be cryptocurrencies in the metaverse One of the biggest roles ever played.

According to Statista, there are approximately 3.2 billion gamers in the world in 2021. However, according to DappRadar, the cryptocurrency gaming industry only includes 1.2 million gamers. This suggests that the integration of cryptocurrencies into mainstream gaming will provide a huge boost to the adoption of cryptocurrencies globally, again confirming SBF’s predictions.