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‘Number go up’? Crypto’s investment reality
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Despite recent optimism over crypto as an asset class, caveat emptor should remain top of mind for investors, says the writer.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Tan Min Lan
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SINGAPORE – Few industries have reinvented their reputation as swiftly as crypto. At the start of US President Donald Trump’s first term in 2017, the entire market was worth less than US$20 billion. Today, it has swelled beyond US$3 trillion (S$3.85 trillion). Over the past year alone, Bitcoin has surged more than 80 per cent – it now commands a market capitalisation of close to 4 per cent of the S&P 500, nearly half the size of the largest constituent. New exchange-traded fund vehicles have also improved access, and institutional adoption is rising.
This dramatic growth coincides with a shift in Washington’s regulatory climate, reigniting debates on whether digital assets are finally becoming a legitimate, investable asset class. In July, President Trump signed the Genius Act, laying the foundation for stablecoins pegged to the US dollar. The headway made by the Clarity Act, a US framework to define digital assets, and the US Treasury’s new Digital Assets Report, have added to the sense of momentum.
