Institutions want to enter the crypto space

Institutional investors are slowly entering the cryptocurrency industry by acquiring the assets directly or investing in crypto-focused projects.

Marieke Flament, the CEO of NEAR Foundation, believes that an increasing number of institutions are planning to invest in cryptocurrencies.

She mentioned this during an interview at the ongoing Paris Blockchain Week Summit. According to Flament, the transition of Web2 companies into Web3 is resulting in the increased participation of institutional investors in the cryptocurrencies space. She said;

“We are seeing a very strong appetite from institutional investors to understand the space, to understand where they can participate.”

The crypto space remains largely unregulated in various parts of the world. Flament believes that regulation will play a huge role in determining how involved institutions would be in the cryptocurrency industry, 

Flament added that one of NEAR Foundation’s priorities is how they can help spearhead regulation for the crypto ecosystem. She said;

“We need to be more coordinated in having a voice for the industry and ultimately coming together with regulators.”

Several countries including the United States, are working on rolling out policies to properly regulate the fast-growing cryptocurrency industry. 

Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) are becoming increasingly popular within the crypto ecosystem. Flament pointed out that she is excited about the emergence of DAOs and what they have to offer to the cryptocurrency space.

The decentralised nature of DAOs is a huge positive for the market, and Flament intends to attract more of them to the NEAR blockchain.

NEAR, the native token of the Near blockchain, is one of the leading cryptocurrencies by market cap. It is the 18th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and one of the fastest-growing.

At press time, NEAR is trading at $15.69 per coin, down by more than 20% from its all-time high price of $20. NEAR has lost more than 3% of its value in the last 24 hours as the broader crypto market underperforms.