Bitmain ex-CEO Jihan Wu: Regulation Is Good for Crypto

While some may see the various regulatory measures greeting the crypto industry as plans of the authorities to crash the space, a crypto billionaire and ex-CEO of Bitmain believes that regulation of the sector is good for the long-term growth of the sector.

Jihan Wu explained to CNBC at a conference that the fact that the sector has evolved, having approximately a trillion-dollar market cap, with a reasonable percentage of US citizens involved, has made it compulsory for the authorities to show interest in regulating the space. According to him, stronger regulatory involvement in the space would allow them to grow stronger and bigger.

In his words:

“I think the regulatory pressure is stronger than before but it will get a lot of bad actors out of the industry and make sure that the industry’s reputation is much better than without it. So I think this kind of a crackdown may be a good thing for the industry in the long term.”

This crackdown on the crypto industry has been very tough in recent times, especially with China who is enforcing the closure of Bitcoin mining centers in the country and citing environmental concerns. Apart from that Binance, a leading crypto exchange has been the subject of regulators around the world. Many of these regulators have sternly warned the exchange that its operation within their jurisdiction is illegal.

The CEO of Avanti Bank & Trust, Caitlin Long, stated that regulatory clampdown has already begun in the United States. In Long’s view, the authorities might not go after crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, however, “intermediaries” and “access points” for US dollars into the crypto sector could be targeted by the authorities.

The crypto billionaire suggested that engagement between regulators, governments, and companies are necessary and would result in a positive outlook for the crypto space in years to come. Citing Singapore as an example, he hailed the Asian country for being “reasonable,” highly efficient and “approachable” in its dealings with the crypto space. He also stated that this gives “many good reasons for Singapore to be a hub for crypto innovations.”

Singapore is one of the few countries with friendly crypto regulation. Per a Financial Times report, many crypto organizations and groups are finding the country amenable to crypto products and innovations.

Wu made the majority of his wealth at Bitmain before he controversially left his position as the CEO. He has gone on to found a new crypto project, Matrixport, which is a digital asset financial services platform.