Ethereum Founder Issues ‘Controversial’ Bitcoin And Crypto Warning Amid Wild Price Swings

Bitcoin
BTC
, ethereum and the wider crypto market is grappling with a brutal bear market and looming regulation that could be poised to catapult bitcoin and crypto into the S&P 500.

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The bitcoin price has surged this week, climbing over the closely-watched $20,000 per bitcoin level, while ethereum has added almost 25% since this time last week—with some predicting the bitcoin price could return to its all-time highs sooner than previously thought.

Now, ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin, one of the most respected voices in the bitcoin and crypto community, has issued a “controversial” crypto adoption warning—flying in the face of growing excitement that crypto could be hurtling toward a $10 trillion earthquake.

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“I don’t think we should be enthusiastically pursuing large institutional capital at full speed,” Buterin posted to Twitter, calling the take “maybe-controversial.” “I’m actually kind of happy a lot of the [exchange-traded funds] are getting delayed. The ecosystem needs time to mature before we get even more attention.”

The crypto market has cheered multiple “huge milestones” in recent months, including news BlackRock
BLK
, the world’s largest asset manager with $10 trillion in assets under management, has partnered with major crypto exchange Coinbase to provide its institutional clients with access to bitcoin.

Financial services giant Fidelity this week surveyed over 1,000 institutional investors, finding almost 75% of them plan to buy cryptocurrencies in the future, it was reported by Blockworks.

Last year, the launch of the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) helped the bitcoin price hit its all-time high of almost $70,000—boosting the ethereum price and other major cryptocurrencies. Since then, a handful of applications for a fully-fledged U.S. bitcoin ETF have been rejected by regulators.

In recent months, much of the crypto debate has focused on looming regulations in the U.S. and worldwide that some fear could stifle innovation and development. Crypto billionaire and chief executive of the FTX crypto exchange Sam Bankman-Fried has attracted criticism for proposals that would see users of automated decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols required to share their data with companies and regulators.

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“Regulation that leaves the crypto space free to act internally but makes it harder for crypto projects to reach the mainstream is much less bad than regulation that intrudes on how crypto works internally,” Buterin added.

Bankman-Fried signaled his support for Buterin’s suggestions, calling them “generally … pretty reasonable.”

Bankman-Fried this month called for more stringent crypto standards—including improved consumer protections, transparency and disclosures—but sparked a backlash that saw him accused of trying to monopolize or censor crypto technology.