FinTech Magazine February 2021 | Page 46

A BIG YEAR AHEAD
PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
themselves to deliver a much more mobile-centric , real-time investment process that rivals the digital natives ”.
46
A BIG YEAR AHEAD
The coming 12 months may play as big a role in the future success of cryptocurrency as the past 12 years , the period since Bitcoin was first released . Coinbase , one of the world ’ s biggest exchanges , will pursue a public offering after filing with the SEC in late December . Gemini , the New York-based exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins , who famously tussled with Mark Zuckerberg in the early days of Facebook , may follow suit after confirming they were “ definitely considering [ going public ]" in a recent interview . Either would be a landmark event , testing both the appetite for crypto firms in the broader market , and as a means for investors to bet on the digital exchanges without directly entering the system .
Collaboration between crypto firms and incumbent financial institutes will also shape the future landscape . Indeed , crypto exchange Kraken recently became the first US crypto company to secure a banking licence . “ That could be

"CUSTOMERS PURSUED EMERGING ASSET CLASSES LIKE CRYPTO IN THE PURSUIT OF RETURNS AS INTEREST RATES REMAIN LOW "

— Simon Jones , Chief Customer Officer , ClearBank
FEBRUARY 2021