Experts Call for American Regulators to End Indecision

The CoinDesk’s Consensus 2018 conference kicked off on Monday in Manhattan, New York, with blockchain experts calling on United States regulators to make up their minds about whether or not they want to regulate cryptocurrencies – or face an exodus of blockchain startups from the country.

ConsenSys, a blockchain software technology company, founding managing partner Kavita Gupta said, per CoinDesk, “The faster the SEC [The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] moves, the faster it will be for businesses to stay in the United States.”

ARK Invest’s, an investment company, CEO Catherine Wood, meanwhile, echoed these views, saying, “Our regulators have to get their act together.”

Wood also called for more “bitcoin listings and token securities in the marketplace,” but suggested that regulators may prevent these from coming to pass. Wood predicted, “We’re going to see regulation mainly by prosecution.”

Per CNBC, some 8,500 people are attending the conference – three times more than the Consensus 2017 event. CNBC also reports that JPMorgan’s former head of blockchain operations, Amber Baldet is at this year’s Consensus, where she revealed she will be launching a new company that provides a marketplace for decentralized, blockchain-powered apps.