As the youngest Prime Minister to take office in the UK in over 200 years, he is a crypto enthusiast.

A former investment banker turned politician, Rishi Sunak has had an incredibly prolific career in a short period of time. At just 42 years old, he has served as a UK Member of Parliament, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, and now begins his term as Prime Minister.

As the youngest prime minister to take office in the UK in over 200 years, Sunak has something else in common with his fellow Millennials: he’s a crypto enthusiast.

In fact, as a recent Bank of America survey found, “young investors choose to allocate significantly more of their cryptocurrency portfolios” than their older counterparts. Additionally, those in the 21-42 age bracket are “most likely to believe that cryptocurrencies offer the greatest growth opportunities” and allocate an average of 15% of their portfolios to cryptocurrency investments, compared to 2% invested by crypto investors over 42 years old.

The difference is that Sunak keeps his fondness for crypto to himself; furthermore, it is capable of advancing the industry in entirely new and exciting ways. It can propose laws, issue regulations, and promote new ideas.

Sunak may pave the way for the migration from Web2 to Web3, which will draw heavily on technologies such as cryptocurrencies, but will also include non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the advent of the metaverse, among others, and potentially create a Web3 Hub outside the UK in no time.

Sunak’s Viewpoints

What was expressed above is not pure speculation, Sunak himself said it, in the following terms:

“My ambition is to make the UK a global hub for cryptocurrency technology,” Sunak said as Chancellor of the Exchequer, emphasizing the need to “ensure businesses can invest, innovate and grow in this country.”

As acting finance minister under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Stanford graduate has promoted various cryptocurrency-related initiatives, as part of an overall agenda aimed at normalizing and advancing the UK crypto ecosystem.

A tweet by @hmtreasury, the UK Government’s economic and finance ministry, had announced  earlier this year that, “Chancellor @RishiSunak has asked @RoyalMintUK to create an NFT to be issued by the summer.”

PM’s Next Steps

If you were to guess what the Prime Minister’s first steps might look like in the coming months, cryptocurrency regulation would be a good thing, if not at least a safe bet.

“By regulating effectively,” Sunak said, “we can give [the businesses of tomorrow] the confidence they need to think and invest in the long term.”

Recently, the European Parliament committee finally approved the much-discussed text for the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, with the White House publishing what it described as the “first comprehensive framework for the responsible development of digital assets.” These would be a very good sign for the industry as a whole.

By 2023, the global crypto landscape could be completely different, more advanced, more regulated, more pervasive, and broader. And this is positive.

The eyes of the world are watching how the youngest Prime Minister in British history deals with the “youngest” innovation of our time. He will just need luck and bull markets for a smooth ride ahead.

By Audy Castaneda

Institutional investors are buying more cryptocurrencies as they are more familiar with those assets, but the US reconfirms its backwardness. The survey indicates a trend is emerging, as most respondents consider crypto assets have lost their status as an alternative investment.

The current bearish trend has allowed the crypto market to evolve, making it easy to identify strong players and trends. This dynamic seems to include institutional investors forever, as they no longer consider digital assets as an alternative investment.

Many reports and studies on the cryptocurrency industry appear at the end of the year. Sometimes valuable assessments help define a trend or take stock of the changeable digital economy.

Fidelity Digital Asset has recently published its annual report on how institutional investors see the digital asset market. Despite the current bearish market, they maintain an optimistic sentiment and no longer consider cryptocurrencies an alternative investment.

Institutional Investors Express Increased Trust in Crypto Assets

Although the document is just over 20 pages, there have been only a few significant year-over-year changes. This study started with 1,052 blind interviews with professionals from various firms. That led to the publishing of a report on the relationship between institutional investors (and high-net-worth individuals) and the crypto market.

The trend is quite bullish despite the current bearish market, as the trust expressed by institutional investors has increased significantly since 2021. Around 58% of the respondents now invest in cryptocurrencies and have a different perception of them (51%) worldwide.

The trend in Europe (51%) is at the same level of global adoption and positive perception as in Asia. Institutional investors may have familiarized themselves more with crypto assets as they have invested more in them. The United States reconfirms its backwardness in this area, with only 39% of favorable positioning.

Cryptocurrencies Are No Longer an Alternative Investment for Institutional Investors

However, the above survey indicates a trend is emerging as the turning point is elsewhere. Institutional investors have a new perception of the crypto market, as they consider they have lost their status as an alternative asset class.

In contrast to 2021, more institutional investors view digital assets as an independent asset class. For the first time in the history of this study, their number exceeds those who think they are only part of the alternative asset class.

Since the main obstacle is the significant volatility of the cryptocurrency sector, it will take time for mass adoption. That makes crypto assets attractive investments unless the market stabilizes after a long process of institutional drowning.

Institutional investors have expressed optimism about cryptocurrencies despite the current bearish crypto market. For example, Michael Saylor has bought significant amounts of Bitcoin to increase the reserves in his company.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading at around USD 20,018 and has accumulated a 6% gain over the last week. While its daily trading volume is above USD 41.15 billion, its market capitalization is about USD 387.57 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar