Hirander Misra of GMEX, speaking at panel organized by lawyers Mackrell Turner Garrett on cryptocurrencies in London on 14 Nov, says: “We get 10 inquiries a week to set up a platform. The bar for setting up a blockchain or crypto exchange is moving much higher. In Mauritius and Abu Dhabi the bar is almost as high as for setting up a normal exchange.
“Digital currency is here to stay, in time some sovereign states will adopt it. In Venezuela, where currency collapsed, people have used bitcoin to get currency out, in Harare people have adopted it. Fidelity and others have started to dip their toes in the water.
“Independent crypto exchanges are opaque, it can be very expensive to get assets in and out. In the last 6-12 months, some of the big custodians have been getting involved, the large banks are going into custody, adopting own products, vaults, etc.
“We talk about ‘decentralized’ but everyone is protecting their own turf, we will end up in worse mess. It can be spaghetti.
“Securities exchanges are very much like they were 25 years ago, standalone, at the time when electronic trading came in. Unless you change you won’t be relevant. There will be change in the next 2 years.
“We still need for regulation and intermediaries, people still want institutions to be accountable. A lot of what we have done in last 30 years is still relevant, our challenge is to make it more efficient.”
GMEX
GMEX Group (GMEX) comprises a set of companies that offer leading-edge innovative solutions for a new era of global financial markets, providing business expertise, the latest technology, connectivity, and operational excellence delivered through an aligned partnership driven approach. GMEX uses extensive market infrastructure experience and expertise to create an appropriate strategic master plan with exchanges, clearing houses, depositories, registries, and warehouse receipt platforms. GMEX also offers the added benefit of interconnection to multiple partner exchanges, to create global networks of liquidity. GMEX Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of GMEX Group.
