Opinion: BTC may become a "mainstream" currency after Trump takes office

WisdomTree CEO Jonathan Steinberg believes that BTC and crypto assets are on the brink of “mainstream” adoption and will reach that status in the next few years.

Steinberg expressed his belief in an interview with CNBC on July 29, citing regulatory clarity, the emergence of publicly traded crypto asset funds, and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) as major catalysts for this trend .

During the interview, Steinberg stressed the significance of former U.S. President Trump’s speech at the BTC 2024 conference on July 27, and the ripple effect it will have on the industry in the long run.

According to the WisdomTree CEO, Trump’s ambitious promise to provide regulatory clarity for crypto assets and digital assets marks a pivotal moment for the industry .

“Such a regulatory framework would have a profoundly positive impact on crypto assets and blockchain finance as an asset class,” Steinberg added.

“BTC has been the best performing asset class over the past 15 years and will continue to outperform the market. As regulators recognize BTC, it will further promote its adoption.”

Steinberg said: “BTC is the natural evolution of money, just like smartphones replaced landlines. Digital assets will eventually become the mainstream form of transaction.”

“In the money world, first there was gold, then there was paper money. Now we’re moving towards programmable money, which is going to really transform financial services broadly.”

Steinberg also emphasized that the discussion around Crypto assets is expanding from core assets such as BTC and Ethereum to a wider range of tokenized real-world assets .

He explained: “Crypto assets are one asset class and then there’s the broader tokenization of all real-world assets. We’re seeing it all converge.”

Steinberg noted that traditional financial institutions have begun to dabble in the RWA market, citing examples such as BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX.

Meanwhile, Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs will launch three new tokenized products for institutional clients later this year.

McKinsey & Company predicts that the RWA market will reach $2 trillion by 2030. However, the firm also said that the industry faces a "cold start" problem, mainly due to limited liquidity and trading volume.