The United States will not lose its appeal as a hub for the crypto industry, despite widespread contrary opinion. This was said in an interview with Cointelegraph by Mriganka Patnaik, CEO of Merkle Science.
Amid a string of stringent regulatory actions and government initiatives, several senior executives in the sector have spoken of relocating their operations.
However, the co-founder and head of a blockchain-analytics firm believes that significant changes in this direction are unlikely, at least in the medium term.
“My view here is somewhat contrary. I think that even five years from now, the majority of activity will still be concentrated in the United States,” he said.
Patnaik noted that countries such as India, China or the UAE have “strong consumer markets”, but the United States offers a much higher level of innovation and “deep talent pool”.
The expert also pointed to the “overall market dynamics” of the American economy — in particular, clarity on taxation. For these reasons, crypto firms are likely to keep the bulk of their activities in the United States, he said.
In March, CEO Ripple Brad Garlinghouse forecasted the departure of industry firms from the United States due to the lack of clear regulation.
In May, Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss announced plans to open the company’s headquarters in London due to a “hostile” regulatory climate in the United States. Two major market-makers — Jane Street and Jump Trading — announced the cessation of operations with digital assets in the country.
An ARK Invest analyst Yassine Elmandjra suggested the United States would lose its leading position in the industry to the UAE, South Korea, Australia and Switzerland.
Earlier, such a view was voiced by Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire. USDC’s head named Hong Kong as one of the potential crypto hubs. Kaiko CEO Ambre Subiran also noted China’s autonomous region as a future haven for American crypto firms.
In Hong Kong, Coinbase was urged to switch jurisdiction after the filing of SEC suit against the American exchange. In January, authorities announced readiness to welcome crypto companies from around the world into the region.