Pro: ‘very crypto-friendly’ era lacks investor follow-through

Crypto is entering the next stage of its evolution, but it’s not driven by hype or surging retail volumes, according to Ayesha Kiani, Chief Operating Officer at MNNC Group.

Speaking during a Bloomberg TV interview over the weekend, Kiani said that while institutional interest is growing, participation remains cautious and calculated.

MNNC Group is a quantitative digital asset investment firm. She said she is seeing demand for stablecoin buying along with Fortune 500 companies adding Bitcoin ( BTC ) or stablecoins on their balance sheets. Meanwhile, many firms are exploring blockchain infrastructure for decentralizing internal data operations, implying the sector has evolved from speculative trading to acceptance by large corporations.

She pointed to BlackRock and Fidelity as two major institutional players who are active in tokenization and asset digitization. Notably, BlackRock is “spearheading that effort,” she said.

Regulation is shifting in crypto’s favor.

Kiani also said that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s move to drop several legal enforcement actions, especially against Coinbase and MoonPay, represents a reversal from the Bidenhostile stance against the industry.

The CFTC is also setting up coworking groups that focus on digital assets.

While crypto may not yet have its own legal classification, Kiani said that’s no longer the main hurdle for the industry to evolve.

“Even if crypto or blockchain doesn’t get a special category, it will probably just be treated like another asset under SEC rules—with the same investor protections.

Many investors feel the Trump administration’s stance in crypto hasn’t lived up to expectations. Bitcoin and Ethereum ( ETH ) are on track to close the first quarter with the worst returns in seven years. However, this isn’t cause for concern as we are indeed in a “very, very crypto-friendly environment.”

She highlighted Trump’s recorded remarks at a recent New York crypto conference, as well as the active involvement of World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm tied to the Trump family and aligned with his administration, are “buying tokens consistently.”

However, favorable rhetoric hasn’t translated into market movement.

“Ever since the administration changed, we haven’t seen new volumes come in,” Kiani said. “We haven’t seen a lot more large institutions plug in and say, ‘here’s the capital just go trade.'”