Institutions Have Only Dabbled in Cryptocurrency, Former UK Chancellor Declares

According to Philip Hammond, bitcoin and alternative cryptocurrencies are “extremely volatile” and investors should only invest in them with funds that have been “written off.”

Philip Hammond – a former UK Chancellor and Conservative Party member – believes individuals should exercise extreme caution when entering the cryptocurrency space. He stated that while institutions have recognised the asset class, they have only dabbled in investing.

Former Chancellor Lord Hammond joined Copper – a British cryptocurrency custody firm that provides infrastructure for the institutional digital asset investment community – as a senior advisor in October. While he is familiar with bitcoin and alternative coins, he does not recommend investing large sums of money in the asset class.

He discussed how numerous businesses and institutions have entered the cryptocurrency market. The majority of them, however, have only “dipped their toes,” as the industry remains extremely volatile.

“However, it is only a toe in the water – it represents a minuscule portion of their asset base exposed to a highly volatile asset class.”

According to him, individuals should bear this in mind and maintain a small exposure to digital assets, which he refers to as “gambling money.” Furthermore, Lord Hammond stated that a sizable portion of society views it as “gaming” rather than a serious investment.

In October, American television personality Jim Cramer admitted that he invested in bitcoin and ether for gambling purposes: “However, I was simply gambling on crowd psychology, and I have no idea why these prices increased.”

It’s worth noting that a number of other prominent figures, including Michael Saylor, Saifedean Ammous, Mayor Francis Suarez, and Senator Synthia Lummis, are staunch supporters of the cryptocurrency industry, specifically bitcoin. According to them, the principal digital asset would be the finest investment option during the anticipated future monetary instability.

Apart from advising investors to exercise caution while investing in cryptocurrencies, Hammond said that the “distributed ledger technology” (DLT) that supports the asset class would “eventually include the whole of what we presently refer to as financial services.”

An Advantage in the Market

Despite denouncing crypto investment as gambling, Hammond pushed UK authorities earlier this month to shift their emphasis away from Brexit and toward digital currency. He said that by doing so, the monarchy will be able to safeguard its financial standing, while bitcoin and altcoins continue to gain macroeconomic traction: “I believe the momentum has reached an impasse. We must act swiftly and decisively to safeguard London’s position.”

The former Chancellor cautioned that ignoring the asset class would be foolish, since it has already been adopted by a number of European nations. “If we do not keep a close eye on things, we will discover that some surprise individuals are ahead of us,” he said.

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