The industry has accelerated much faster this year than we expected” – News

The pace of acceleration of the crypto industry in 2021 has surprised many, including Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno. Swanepoel recently noted: “We knew it was coming, but not so quickly, especially in certain subsectors like NFTs and some altcoins.”

Subsectors at the top of their hype cycle

The acceleration of the crypto industry in 2021 surprised some players in the industry, including Marcus Swanepoel, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange platform Luno. Although Swanepoel notes that this acceleration was expected, he still acknowledges that the pace of growth was not expected.

In notes published of the Daily Maverick, the CEO comments on what could have caused the rapid acceleration.

"The industry has accelerated much faster this year than we expected. We knew it was coming, but just not as fast, especially in certain sub-sectors like NFTs and some altcoins," Swanepoel is quoted as saying.

However, Swanepoel says some of the sub-sectors are probably at the "top of their hype cycle" and are likely to cool off in the next cycle. The CEO also lamented that “less than 90% of what people see [in the crypto industry] is actually useful or legitimate.”

CBDCs that are beneficial for crypto

In addition to his thoughts on the growth of the crypto industry as well as Luno's journey since its inception acquisition of the Digital Currency Group, Swanepoel also commented on the perceived threat to cryptocurrencies from central bank digital currencies (CBDC). He explained that while many governments appear interested in issuing or experimenting with CBDCs, in reality it will take several years for such digital currencies to be fully adopted.

In the event that many countries manage to adopt a functioning digital currency, Swanepoel argues that this will be beneficial for crypto, stating:

But if they [governments] get it done, it would be very beneficial for crypto as it would only increase the ease of entry and exit from decentralized crypto like Bitcoin.

On the regulatory side, Swanepoel points out that progress in creating appropriate regulatory frameworks worldwide has been very slow. In the same interview, Swanepoel also joked about how China's crackdown on Bitcoin mining has led to this activity moving to North America.

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is an award-winning journalist, author and author in Zimbabwe. He has written extensively about the economic woes of some African countries and how digital currencies can provide an escape route for Africans.

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