“Everything, everywhere, all at once.” “Mixed signals.” “Unhinged.” “Irrational exuberance.”
We got a mix of passionate responses when asked founders and thought leaders to describe the current state of cryptocurrency. But the bottom line: Crypto currency is here to stay and is embedding in more parts of the economy, a result of new federal regulations.
Recent Crypto Changes
In the last ten years, the United States has taken a “wait and see approach” when it comes to cryptocurrency adoption and legislation, said Gregory Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Rubincon Crypto. But that has quickly changed under the second Trump Administration, as a slew of new legislation has paved the way for crypto to move from an experimental technology to a larger part of the US economy.
“Regardless of partisanship, regardless of what side of the [political] aisle you might be sitting upon, the fact remains that the state of the crypto industry in the United States is radically different under the Trump Administration than what we’ve seen in the previous Biden, and indeed, the previous Trump Administration,” Johnson told Hypepotamus.
So what are those changes?
The Genius Act, which allows private firms to issue stablecoins, which could now quickly be adopted for back-end financial transactions. Johnson called the act “a profoundly important piece of legislation and ultimately will seep into virtually every corner of American business over the next five years.”
Project Crypto, an initiative with the Securities and Exchange Commission, looks to rethink what securities rules and regulations need to look like in an “on-chain” environment.
Some policy researchers and cryptocurrency leaders say that Trump’s landmark federal statute, passed in July, could benefit Bitcoin even if there was no specific mention of cryptocurrency.
Through executive order in August, President Trump allowed alternative assets like private equity, cryptocurrencies and real estate into 401(k)s, which could spur more wide-spread adoption of crypto
What’s On the Horizon?
The Clarity Act, also known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, recently passed the House of Representatives and currently awaits Senate approval. If approved, it would change which cryptocurrency tokens are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and which would be by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Another bill that passed the House and is with the Senate is the The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would prohibit the Federal Reserve Bank from offering products and services (including cryptocurrency tokens) directly to individuals.
What The Experts Say: The Current State of Crypto
Industry veterans say we are currently seeing a fundamental shift in cryptocurrency’s role within the broader financial ecosystem.
“We’re finally reaching some of the acceptance and ability to actually utilize the full power of digital assets and crypto that a lot of us who’ve been in the space for a while have looked forward to,” said Kell Canty, who leads the Atlanta-based digital asset and cryptocurrency tax software Ledgible.
Jesse Shrader, co-founder and CEO of Nashville-based Amboss Technologies, a company that works with high net worth individuals and Bitcoin Treasury companies looking to adopt Bitcoin as a payment system, agreed. He told Hypepotamus that “this cycle is different from every previous cycle with bountiful adoption from even the most conservative firms in traditional finance.”
But there is still a lot of uncertainty around exactly how cryptocurrency adoption will look like.
“The current market in crypto is sending mixed signals,” Shrader continued. “While there has been an explosion of Bitcoin Treasury companies as a massive success story, the crypto token explosion of years past has failed to take hold. Similarly, while Bitcoin has had a banner year, recent price action has failed to match the massively positive sentiment for the time-tested cryptocurrency.”
For Atlanta-based entrepreneur Ryan DeMattia, Co-Founder and Head of Derivatives at DMG LTD, cryptocurrency and stablecoin adoption is now a “foregone conclusion.” But he believes there are still challenges ahead.
The current explosion in interest in crypto “leads to disjointed “hype” and the announcement economy we now live in where information moves faster but is still very asymmetric. There are more positive headlines than ever before. Some of the most meaningful ones go completely unnoticed,” he told Hypepotamus. “All that said, these are great problems for any industry to have.”
What Does It All Mean For Industry?
Despite the regulatory momentum, significant hurdles remain before cryptocurrency becomes fully integrated into the financial system. The technology is still classified as property for tax purposes, making it subject to capital gains taxation, while security concerns persist as hacks and thefts continue to plague the crypto space.
Yet adoption is accelerating among traditional financial institutions, with major players like JPMorganChase partnering with Coinbase.
Industry leaders believe the federal policy shifts and major financial institutions adopting the technology are creating unprecedented opportunities across for startups and entrepreneurs.
“The normalization of crypto — in 401(k)s, in pension plans, and in the news cycle — is happening at such a velocity that if you’re a small business owner, an entrepreneur, or if you’re somebody working in a startup, you have to be fluent at least or at least conversational in some of these topics It could make or break the success of your venture, or could make or break the success of your career,” Johnson added.
Canty at Ledgible sees this moment as pivotal for America’s competitive advantage.
“Just like the United States was the leader in the Internet back in the day, and that has brought all kinds of advances and benefits to America, we’re going to do the same way with crypto technology,” he said.
Southeast Companies To Know In Crypto
We’re rounded up a few crypto-related startups and companies that are building in the Southeast:
BitPay (Atlanta): A platform that helps businesses spend, accept, and build with bitcoin
YellowCard (Atlanta): The largest and first licensed Stablecoin payments orchestrator, empowering businesses across emerging markets
Legible (Atlanta): A crypto and tax accounting platform
Lolli (Durham): A rewards app that allows users to earn bitcoin when shopping online
Anchor Watch (Raleigh and Nashville): A company providing regulated bitcoin insurance
Station70 (Nashville): A security products designed to strengthen the crypto ecosystem as a whole
RuufPay (Nashville): A wallet for real-world payments
Ulys (Nashville): A fintech company that offers an app for cryptocurrency and decentralized finance trading
Milo (Miami): A financial technology company that is reimagining the way crypto and global consumers access credit and financial solutions