WisdomTree CEO Jonathan Steinberg believes Bitcoin and crypto are on the verge of ‘mainstream’ adoption and will reach that status within the next few years.
Steinberg expressed his belief during a July 29 CNBC interviewciting regulatory clarity, the rise of publicly traded crypto funds and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) as the main catalysts of this trend.
Clarity of regulations
During the interview, Steinberg emphasized the importance of former President Donald J. Trump’s speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference on July 27 and the ripple effects it will have on the sector in the long term.
According to the CEO of WisdomTree, Trump’s ambitious promise of regulatory clarity for crypto and digital assets marked a pivotal moment for the sector. He added that such regulatory frameworks will have a profoundly positive impact on both crypto as an asset class and blockchain-based finance in general.
Steinberg said:
“[Trump] could not have spoken in a more ambitious tone about what he would do with crypto and Bitcoin as an asset class.”
He also highlighted that Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset class for fifteen years and will continue to outperform the market, further driving adoption as it gains regulatory acceptance.
Steinberg said Bitcoin is the natural evolution of money, just as smartphones replaced landlines; he predicts that digital assets will eventually become the dominant form of transactions.
He added:
“In money there was gold and then paper money – we are moving towards programmable money, which will broadly transform financial services.”
Real world assets
Steinberg also emphasized that the story around crypto is expanding beyond core assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum to include a broader range of tokenized real-world assets.
He explained:
“Crypto is an asset class, and then there’s the broader tokenization of all real-world assets. We see it all coming together.”
Steinberg noted that traditional financial institutions are already entering the RWA market, citing examples such as BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX. Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs will also launch three new tokenization products for institutional clients later this year.
According to McKinsey & Company, the RWA market is expected to reach $2 trillion by 2030. However, the company also said the industry is facing a “cold start” problem, mainly due to limited liquidity and transaction volume.