The appearing chief of the U.S. Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money (OCC), Michael Hsu, stated he’s optimistic in regards to the transformative potential of tokenization however continues to be cautious of the crypto resulting from excessive ranges of threat.
Hsu made the assertion throughout a chat on the DC Fintech Week in Washington on Nov. 7.
Whereas nearly all of his time was spent speaking about banking supervision, he additionally highlighted the advantages of tokenization in streamlining the settlement of funds and securities. However, he dismissed cryptocurrencies as a speculative asset class that continues to be a dangerous enterprise.
Tokenization is promising
Hsu believes that tokenization affords a ground-breaking answer to a vital monetary problem that has plagued the human monetary system for millennia — settlement.
Hsu stated:
“Tokenization is concentrated on fixing an precise drawback, and that drawback is settlement.”
Hsu defined that within the conventional monetary world, each asset switch entails a number of intermediaries and checks to confirm its validity earlier than it may be formally settled within the recipient’s fingers.
These layers of verification processes usually include further prices that will in the end be borne by the shopper, including a component of threat to the transaction. Moreover, these processes are sometimes mired in legacy techniques and methodologies, including vital delays and dangers.
Based on Hsu:
“Tokenization holds the promise to break down that and to simplify it — if it’s accomplished proper.”
He added that there’s increasingly more curiosity in tokenization, and the OCC is internet hosting a symposium on tokenization in February additional to ascertain a very good basis for the expertise’s utility.
Crypto is simply too dangerous
Nevertheless, the appearing chief’s optimism about tokenization is accompanied by reservations relating to the broader cryptocurrency business.
Hsu highlighted the rising disconnect between tokenization and cryptocurrencies, characterizing the latter as primarily pushed by speculative features. He added that:
“There appears to be increasingly more of a divide between crypto on one hand and tokenization of real-world belongings on the opposite.”
The appearing chief stated that cryptocurrencies convey with all of them kinds of threat elements that establishments are hesitant to interact with. Hsu added that the business continues to be primarily fueled by hypothesis and the will to generate income.
Hsu additionally highlighted that KYC (Know Your Buyer) points don’t have an effect on tokenization, whereas its virtually unattainable to inform who owns a selected pockets on a blockchain. He additionally expressed skepticism relating to the illicit monetary exercise within the business, saying:
“It nonetheless stays replete with frauds, scams, and hacks.”
Hsu stated that applied sciences want to unravel real-world issues to achieve traction among the many populace, and crypto continues to be searching for the issue it might probably clear up.
Hsu’s stance displays the regulatory challenges dealing with the cryptocurrency business, which has encountered points associated to investor safety, market manipulation, and the absence of clear regulatory frameworks.
Regardless of the improvements and potentials inside the crypto house, the prevalence of fraudulent actions has remained a big concern for regulators and buyers alike.
