Not Bitcoin, Here's Where The Next $30T In Crypto Could Go To, According To BofA Analyst

The next phase of growth in the cryptocurrency space will be driven by protocols less decentralized than Bitcoin BTC/USD, according to Alkesh Shah, the head of the cryptocurrency and digital asset strategy at BofA Securities.

What Happened: Speaking at a webinar hosted by Columbia Business School, Shah said the digital asset ecosystem was not going in the direction Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto envisioned it would — but that was not necessarily a bad thing.

The future of the crypto ecosystem was likely to be “semi-decentralized," Shah said, referring to networks that usually feature a decentralized blockchain with a centralized company or foundation running its operations.

“If I was going to look at the next $30 trillion for this ecosystem, I would look at the semi-decentralized part."

Bitcoin was created as a reaction to the financial crisis and the ability of centralized platforms, like banks and central banks, to control monetary systems, said Shah.

“The internet was designed to be a decentralized network, and anybody could be anything on the internet,” said Shah, in response to a statement about cryptocurrencies being traded on centralized platforms such as Coinbase Global Inc COIN and Paypal Holdings PYPL.

“Ultimately, we want some governance and some level of trust ... and that is really what makes an ecosystem real, and that’s where we’re going." 

Shah said the cryptocurrency market was able to rise by $1.5 trillion in the last three years because "this part of the ecosystem is not that pure vision of Bitcoin and the pure vision of blockchain.”  

See Also: Why Bank Of America Says There Won’t Be A ‘Crypto Winter’

Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $41,981, losing 2.2% and Ethereum ETH/USD was trading at $2,957, down 2.53% over the same period.