The global trading and technology firm Susquehanna’s head of digital assets, Bart Smith, has recently indicated that the time for financial institutions to embrace cryptocurrencies might come sooner rather than later.

This statement came during an interview in CNBC’s ”Fast Money” segment, in which Smith explained his view on the current Wall Street market sentiment in relation to cryptocurrencies. Most notably, Smith noted that although financial institutions are ”eying the dance floor”, they have yet to take any dance steps.

Moreover, he went on to discuss the recent rejection of the Winklevoss-backed Bitcoin ETF, which Toshi Times has previously covered, as well as what prerequisites Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, would need to fulfill if institutional cryptocurrency investments are to become a reality.

Smith also highlighted that US Bitcoin trading volumes have increased again to a significant $400 million in daily trading after a slump earlier this year. Moreover, CFE and CME futures trading volumes have also increased to deliver approximately $400 million daily results in the last week.

The digital assets head stated that ”$400 million […] is not nothing”, but he also added that institutional investors could dramatically reshape the landscape when it comes to cryptocurrency investing.

More specifically, he floated the idea that ”a big insurance company, CalPERS or a state pension” could potentially invest in cryptocurrencies, effectively validating the market for future investors. He went on to add that such an occurrence would ”be the sign that […] I’ve got to get in now”.

Smith has previously come out in favor of Bitcoin, which means that his most recent comments do not come as too much of a surprise.

Furthermore, Susquehanna began introducing a Bitcoin trading project to 500 clients this June, which comes following several years of dealing with Bitcoin in more limited ways.

At this time, Smith was quoted as hailing the potential disruptive qualities of Bitcoin as being capable of prompting massive change within the investment industry.

Specifically, Smith said that ”we believe that this technology and this asset class is going to change some facet of financial services, and we think it is going to exist forever”.

Smith quite clearly holds significant hopes for the cryptocurrency sector as a whole, however, his claims are not unfounded. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets have been trending upwards lately, and there are great hopes for the potential of upcoming cryptocurrency ETFs.

Moreover, industry experts have recently also pointed to continued and increased adoption as holding great potential and is arguably just as important as improved means of investment through ETFs.

It remains to be seen whether Smith is correct in that cryptocurrencies are here to stay – although his arguments certainly hold some credence.

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