Former Barclays Chief Is Optimistic About Crypto’s Future, Here’s Why

Former Barclays Chief, Bob Diamond, in an interview with Financial Times stated that digital currencies will have a crucial role to play in financial markets. His plans of listing Circle, a stablecoin came to an end due to the extreme crypto market situation of last year.

He also mentions that there will be a lot of good things this year that will help the crypto market survive the crashes of last year. This statement comes after Diamond was unable to list Circle, one of the largest Stablecoin, at a 9 billion USD valuation. The reason was cited as weak investor demand.

Unrealized crypto plans of Bob Diamond

Diamond was a well-known traditional financier in the cryptocurrency industry. In 2021, his private equity firm Atlas Merchant made a capital investment in Circle and subsequently created a special-purpose vehicle to buy the business.

The unfulfilled plan put an end to a dismal year for the crypto market, during which prices plummeted and the collapse of well-known companies like FTX revealed how unpredictable and poorly regulated a lot of the market was.

Also read: Why Tether Refused To Help FTX During Crisis

“I don’t think as an industry we’re going to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” in my mind, there is a place for a digital currency, a very important place,” said Bob Diamond, co-founder, and CEO, of Atlas Merchant Capital.

Shouldn’t be using terms like “crypto winter”

“Crypto is such a broad word,” he added and expressed his frustration about people calling it crypto winter. “It’s all good, it’s all bad. We have to do a better job. There are undoubtedly sectors that have a very strong future, like the technology being developed for stablecoins.”

“The optimist in me hopes this will be a catalyst for more effective and targeted regulation and development of territories. . . like stablecoins and blockchain technology for onshore and permissive applications,” he said while talking on the collapse of FTX and other exchanges in 2022, adding that Circle has long called for such regulation. He believes that the crashes of 2022 will open the eyes of regulators.

“People are starting to understand the difference between US onshore and offshore,” he added saying that this should benefit Circle as it is a company regulated in the U.S.

Also read: SBF’s Inner Circle Nishad Singh Cooperating With US Prosecutors

“I think there will be a chill for a while, whether it is an IPO or a spac, the process would be very difficult. . . at the moment,” he said while talking about how the market conditions are not suitable for upcoming listings.

Are stablecoins actually stable?

On being asked about stablecoins, Diamond said “a lot of the debate about stablecoins is, are they actually stable?”

“I think Circle has demonstrated through the management of its reserves that . . . their openness in the disclosure, its strategic partnership with BlackRock to manage the reserves going forward, and consistent repayment . . . that a dollar is a dollar in terms of their portfolio.”