YOU ARE IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING YOUR WHOLE OPERATION
FROM HONG KONG TO SINGAPORE. WHY IS THAT? RICHARD:
ACTUALLY THE CHANGE NOW IS ME MYSELF, I'M MOVING FROM HONG
KONG TO SINGAPORE. JAMIE DIMON HIGHLIGHTED TODAY
THAT IT'S REALLY HARD FOR THE CEO OF A GLOBAL BUSINESS NOT TO
BE ABLE TO TRAVEL FREELY. I HAVE DONE SEVEN QUARANTINES
IN HONG KONG SOUGHT BEEN A LITTLE BIT RESTRICTED OVER THE
LAST YEAR AND A HALF.
EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON MAKES IT A LOGICAL PLACE FOR US
TO BE. HASLINDA:
IS IT ABOUT WHAT IT ALLOWS YOU TO DO, HOW DO YOU EXPECT CRYPTO
SPACE TO EVOLVE? RICHARD: YOUR POINT IS IMPORTANT.
SINGAPORE IS A REGULATOR THAT'S TAKEN AND INNOVATIVE APPROACH.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IS AROUND THE CORNER AND HOW IT IS GOING
TO ADAPT.
CHINA HAS MADE SOME FAIRLY BOLD MOVES OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF
MONTHS BUT EVEN THE U.S., WHEN THEY FAIL TO ISSUE AN ETF
APPROVAL FOR EIGHT YEARS, THAT'S A 12,000% OPPORTUNITY
FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO ACCESS BITCOIN IN THEIR SAVINGS.
YVONNE: SEVEN QUARANTINES DOES NOT
SOUND GOOD. I'M JUST WONDERING WHEN IT
COMES TO THE LEGISLATION SIDE, FINANCE AND SINGAPORE AND THE
FALLOUT, HAS THAT CHANGED HOW YOU DO BUSINESS AND HOW YOU
COMPLY WITH THE RULES AND REGULATIONS THERE? RICHARD:
I THINK THE KEY HERE IS THAT WE'VE ALWAYS COMPLIED WITH
REGULATIONS AND WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN SOMEONE EFFECTIVELY
FOCUSED ON BEING SOMEONE THAT REGULATORS CAN SPEAK TO AND
UNDERSTAND HOW REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS SHOULD PROGRESS IN
THIS BRAND-NEW INDUSTRY.
SO WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING WITH THEM IN THEIR
INITIAL EXPIRATION OF THE AREA, HOW TO THINK ABOUT DERIVATIVES,
WE ARE INVOLVED IN THAT FROM THE BEGINNING.
EQUALLY, IF YOU LOOK AT OUR REGULATED CUSTODIAN, THAT IS
SOMETHING WE WORK WITH THE U.K. REGULATOR FOR SOME TIME.
WE ENDED UP BEING THE FIRST ENTITY TO BE REGULATED UNDER
THAT FRAMEWORK. YVONNE:
IN TERMS OF FLOWS, GIVEN THE MOVEMENT WE SEEN IN BITCOIN,
PEOPLE SAYING THE MARKET BE MORE MAINSTREAM, YOU HAVE MORE
BETS THAT THIS IS MORE OF AN INFLATIONARY HEDGE.
WHERE ARE YOU SEEING THE MOST ACTION RIGHT NOW ON YOUR
PLATFORM? RICHARD: IT'S INTERESTING.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE AVERAGE TRANSACTION, ITS INCREASE BY
ABOUT FIVE TIMES OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS.
THAT'S REALLY INDICATIVE OF INSTITUTIONS REALLY COMING TO
PLAY IN THE SPACE. OUR VOLUMES ARE UP ABOUT 20
SINCE WE LISTED ON THE NASDAQ EXCHANGE AND THAT HAS MAINLY
BEEN FROM INSTITUTIONAL FLOW COMING IN AND PARTICIPATING,
ANYTHING FROM CORPORATE'S TO HEDGE PUTS -- TWO HINGED --
HEDGE FUNDS TO THE CORPORATE SPACE HAVE BEEN VERY ACTIVE.
AND ALL THE MOVES WE'VE SEEN RECENTLY AROUND PIMCO
ANNOUNCING , THE FIXED INCOME CEO AT BLACKROCK, A LOT OF
FIXED INCOME PEOPLE STARTING TO MOVE INTO THE SPACE.
THAT IS FAIRLY NATURAL, TALKING ABOUT INFLATION, NEW LOOK AT
BONDS ACROSS THE WORLD, $18 TRILLION OF PAPER WITH NEGATIVE
EELS, THAT IS INDICATIVE OF A MANIPULATED MARKET.
EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT WHERE IS THE ESCAPE VALVE AND THEY ARE
SEEING THE MOVES IN BITCOIN. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IS
HAPPENING. HASLINDA: YOU HAD THE CEO WAITING AND
SAYING BITCOIN TOOK INCREASING RISKS TO FINANCIAL STABILITY.
THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH VOLATILITY, RETAIL INVESTORS
ARE GETTING IN WITHOUT EVEN UNDERSTANDING THE ASSET.
RICHARD: VOLATILITY IS JUST NATURAL AT
WHERE WE ARE IN THIS STAGE OF THE CYCLE.
WE ARE AT AN EARLY STAGE OF ADOPTION.
IF YOU LOOK AT THINGS ON A BELL CURVE OF ADOPTION, THE BANK OF
ENGLAND HAS OBVIOUSLY STRUGGLED TO FIX THEIR NARRATIVE AROUND
INFLATION AND THINGS ARE GOING TO GET BLAMED.
I THINK BITCOIN WILL END UP GETTING BLAMED FOR INFLATION
BUT OBVIOUSLY THE CENTRAL BANKS WANT TO BE PUTTING IN PLACE
CENTRAL-BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY TO HAVE CONTROL OVER THE WAY
PEOPLE SPEND THEIR MONEY AND ALSO HELP PEOPLE THROUGH
PROGRAMS IN THESE SORTS OF THINGS.
CENTRAL BANKS ARE MOTIVATED TO PUT PEOPLE AWAY. HASLINDA:
SOME SAY THE CDC WILL KILL BITCOIN. RICHARD:
BITCOIN IS A DECENTRALIZED MONEY SO IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF
SEE BDC. I WILL BRING BENEFITS TO
CITIZENS BUT THERE ARE A FEW SENATOR CONCERNS AROUND DEEPLY
NEGATIVE YIELDS OR INTEREST RATES AS A POTENTIALITY WHEN
YOU REMOVE CASH FROM THE SYSTEM. HE TAKES -- YOU TAKE WHAT'S
HAPPENING IN SWITZERLAND, WITH NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES GOING
ON FOR SO LONG.
PEOPLE ARE TAKING BANKNOTES OUT OF THE BANK AND STICKING THEM
IN SAVINGS. YVONNE: THERE IS SO MUCH AROUND THE
META-VERSE. HOW WILL THAT BE FOR CRYPTOCURRENCY?
WHAT SORT OF BOOST OR TAILWIND DOES THAT BRING? RICHARD:
THAT IS A FANTASTIC SEGUE BECAUSE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT
THE META-VERSE, AND I'VE HAD RECENT EXPERIENCE WITHIN THIS
WHEN I WAS DOING MY SEVENTH QUARANTINE, MY -- ONE OF MY
INVESTORS SUGGESTED I BUY A VR HEADSET FOR OUR NEXT MEETING.
IT REALLY IS A DIFFERENT WORLD, THE FUTURE IS HERE.
THE IDEA THAT GOLD SHOULD BE THE HARDEST MONEY AND THAT TYPE
OF WORLD IS REALLY STARTING TO BECOME ILLOGICAL AS AN ARGUMENT.
I WOULD SAY THE META-VERSE STARTING TO HELP PEOPLE
UNDERSTAND THE WAY THE WHOLE WORLD IS GOING AND WERE MOVING
TO A MORE DIGITAL WORLD SO WE WILL END UP WITH MORE DIGITAL
MONEY. HASLINDA:
WITHOUT GIVING YOUR PREDICTION TO WHERE BITCOIN WILL BE, WHERE
IS IT HEADED? RICHARD:
WE'VE GOT DEMS CALLING FOR A FOURTH ROUND OF STIMULUS.
FOR BITCOIN, A RECENTLY SAID 175,000 FOR THE END OF THE YEAR.
THAT WAS PROLONGED A LITTLE BIT BY ELON MUSK AND CHINA BUT I
STILL THINK WE WILL SEE BITCOIN NORTH OF 100,000 BY THE END OF
THE YEAR. I THINK IN THIS CYCLE, EVEN AS
EARLY AS MARCH, THINK WE WILL BE LOOKING AT 175,000.
HASLINDA: ARE YOU BUYING?