Despite these headwinds, Lopez says regulatory clarity is no longer the main obstacle for companies considering a public listing.
“It’s less relevant than before. Companies went public before the regulations were clear,” he said. “For companies like Bullish, Circle or BitGo, it’s more about access to capital than regulation.”
Kraken’s announced plans to pursue a public listing illustrate how crypto companies are adapting, Lopez said. The exchange has sought to diversify beyond cryptocurrency trading, a strategy it says better positions companies in the public markets.
“The right thing to do is to diversify more rather than just trading cryptocurrencies,” he says.
Institutional adoption
Despite near-term weakness in crypto finance markets, Lopez says blockchain technology continues to gain traction in traditional finance. Major financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley (MS), Nasdaq (NDAQ), and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), are building blockchain-based infrastructure and preparing for token settlement.
The industry is moving toward near-instant settlement, moving from T+1 to T+0, while initiatives such as the OpenUSD network bring together more than 140 financial institutions and payment companies around a stablecoin infrastructure, he says.
Lopez expects the long-term winners to be blockchain infrastructure providers rather than companies built solely around individual cryptocurrencies.
“Many crypto companies attempting to raise capital in private markets struggle due to their single-minded focus on a single product offering,” he says.
