By CCN: Institutional investors are running out of excuses not to invest in crypto. Israeli-based social trading platform eToro has launched eToroX, a fully regulated crypto exchange. eToroX debuts with half-a-dozen top cryptocurrencies and eight fiat currency-backed stablecoins, the latter of which are now open-source.
One cryptocurrency noticeably absent from the list is Bitcoin SV, which can’t be found on the traditional eToro trading platform, either. Given the timing of eToroX’s launch, which comes just a day after other crypto exchanges have scrambled to delist the cryptocurrency created by the controversial Craig Wright, eToro just dodged a serious bullet.
If you want to make a real lasting impression @yoniassia, make sure to tell everyone on-stage that @eToro and @eTorox never listed $BSV
— Udi Wertheimer (@udiWertheimer) April 16, 2019
Opening the Floodgates to Big Investors
eToro Founder and CEO Yoni Assia was the keynote speaker at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, where he described how eToroX hopes to bridge a divide between the financial markets and crypto with its stablecoins and tokenization of other assets. With less than $200 billion in combined market cap, crypto still has a long way to go. Assia stated:
“[Crypto] is still a drop in the ocean compared to $140 trillion of assets under management [in the capital markets.] That’s a big gap. In the blockchain industry, everything everyone is building will start moving when the transition of assets starts shifting into the blockchain.”*
He also described the urgency for a trading platform that supports the tokenization of pretty much any asset in real-time 24/7. He stated:
“Most crypto exchanges only trade crypto assets and core assets…in the future we believe the entire ecosystem will enable people to trade new kinds of tokenized assets, whether equity, property/real estate, or art, they will be able to trade and invest in a wide variety of assets coming from countries all over the world.” *
eToro CEO Yoni Assia gives the keynote at Paris Blockchain Week | Source: LinkedIn Live Stream
Bruno Le Maire, France’s Minister of Economy and Finance, is looking to position the country as the European leader for blockchain technology. He stated:
“I will propose to my European counterparts the setting up of a unique crypto regulatory framework inspired by the French experience. We will also continue to encourage work on this topic at the G20 level.”
Je proposerai à mes homologues européens la mise en place d’un cadre unique de régulation des cryptoactifs inspiré de l’expérience française. Nous continuerons aussi à encourager les travaux sur ce sujet au niveau du G20. #ParisBlockchainConference pic.twitter.com/oEZ6DaX4wF
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) April 15, 2019
eToroX is open for trading and supports the following cryptocurrencies to start: BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, DASH, and XRP. In the spirit of tokenization, eToroX’s fiat currency-backed stablecoins “against USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, JZD, HF, AUD, and CAD at launch.” Fortune reports that eToroX’s stablecoins will be backed by futures contracts, which kind of steals the thunder of yet-to-launch bitcoin futures exchange Bakkt. eToro has more coins waiting in the pipeline. eToro’s original trading platform boasts 10 million users.
Disclaimer: Direct quotes are approximations from a live-streamed event