According to BitMEX CEO, Alexander Höptner, institutional investors are still bullish on crypto and Ethereum. Höptner spoke at the Token2049 conference in Singapore and highlighted that the institutional push into crypto has not slowed down during this bear market.
Höptner added that institutions will be purchasing and storing cryptocurrency assets since adoption for the banking business has a long horizon. However, the retail sector is now the contrary.
Moreover, the BitMEX CEO thinks that institutions will begin piling up on Ethereum (ETH) ever since the project transitioned to a PoS (Proof-of-Stake) model. Now, ETH uses nearly 99% less energy than before. Being environmentally friendly and aligning with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) concerns, makes the asset very attractive. Höptner called Ethereum the “ideal protocol to build stuff on.” However, the ESG alignment is of the most importance, the CEO says, as it can check the boxes that were previously unchecked.
Speaking on the current market slump, the BitMEX chief said that bear markets are utilized for innovation. Moreover, they offer the luxury of time. Whereas during a bull market there is a lot of pressure to deliver.
Is Retail Interest in Ethereum growing as well?
While Höptner says that institutional interest in Ethereum has not slowed down, retail interest might have swayed the other way. According to analyst Ali Martinez, the number of new Ethereum addresses created each day fell by more than 50% yesterday. According to Martinez, a steady decline in new addresses leads to a price correction over time.
However, the dip in retail interest might have more to do with the bear markets. Once the markets pull out of the current slump, the number of new addresses per day should pick up as well. Moreover, September has historically never been a good month for crypto. In addition, this time around there are bigger cogs in motion that have contributed to the downward trend.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has had a major impact on the financial fabric. Moreover, the rising cost of energy has also impacted the markets. Until these aspects can be dealt with, the markets might not see a big positive movement.
At press time Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $1,344.13, up by 4.7% in the last 24 hours.