Top Coinbase Executive Says Institutional Crypto Adoption ‘Moving Very Fast’, Believes Bitcoin ETF Inevitable

A high-ranking executive from top US crypto exchange Coinbase says institutional adoption of digital assets is moving quicker than most realize.

In a new interview with SALT Talks, John D’Agostino, a senior advisor at Coinbase, says he understands how though it may not look like it, by conventional standards institutional crypto adoption is actually moving fast.

“These things just take time. Institutional inertia is a very real thing. I had a hedge fund where one of the guys who worked for me picked up his monitor and threw it through a window because the colors on his OMS, his order management system, changed. Just his colors. These are creatures of habit. There’s a lot of switching costs associated with adding new assets.

So for me, for someone who spent 15 years trying to get commodities to be mainstream, it’s actually moving fast. But I do understand why for somebody in the heat of the moment feels it’s glacial. But for institutional I think it’s moving very, very fast.”

D’Agostino says US regulators have slowed the growth of the crypto market, but he expects more favorable regulations in the future including the approval of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded spot funds (ETF).

“I think the regulators have been complacent to the point of harming the US’s positioning with regards to the growth of this technology. I’m sympathetic to their point of view. I’m sympathetic to the notion that they feel they have to protect retail investors from volatile assets.

I think that’s going to change. Despite the delay, an ETF is inevitable. I can’t tell you when it’s going to happen. But I know at some point it’s going to happen.”

With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejecting several ETFs already, pressure is mounting for an eventual approval.

Crypto asset manager Grayscale recently took legal action against the SEC’s rejection of the firm’s ETF application.