Jeremy Ng is the Asia-Pacific Managing Director of the world’s leading crypto platform, Gemini, which was founded and is owned by NY-based twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
Gemini operates in more than 50 territories and has more than AUD $39bn in crypto under custody. The platform supports more than 30 cryptocurrencies as well as Gemini’s own USD-backed stablecoin, the Gemini dollar (GUSD).
Jeremy has held leadership positions at Swiss investments solutions provider, Leonteq, and global investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and was Equity Derivative Sales Desk Director at Deutsche Bank.
Jeremy has media experience across the Asia Pacific, including TV, radio, print and online.
Jeremy offered industry and market commentary
Don’t sweat the short-term volatility
Jeremy says, “Volatility is to be expected for a relatively new asset class. Bitcoin is still maturing, but climbing exponentially. Its value is forecast to grow tenfold in the next decade, and will therefore continue to see ups and downs in the short term.”
“Amazon for instance lost 80% of its share value before becoming the largest company in the world. Having said that, bitcoin’s volatility has dampened in the last five years due to institutional investors entering the market.”
For investors who are nervous about bitcoin price movements, Jeremy recommends they only invest the amount they are comfortable with.
Investors should see bitcoin as a digital gold, not cash
As an appreciating asset in limited supply, bitcoin is a strong inflation hedge against devaluing fiat currencies. Jeremy recommends investors make purchases with cash, but hold bitcoin.
“Bitcoin is a better version of gold because its supply is truly fixed, and it is software instead of hardware so a lot of innovation can be built on top.”
“From a limited supply standpoint, bitcoin is the hardest form of decentralised money.”
Regulation will attract investors hesitant about crypto
If regulations are placed on exchange platforms in Australia, Jeremy expects stringent requirements around exchange policies, compliance, and security.
As in Singapore, rules around crypto in Australia may draw from existing securities regulation.
Jeremy welcomes regulation in the Australian market “Gemini was built in highly regulated markets such as New York and the UK. Rules will add more legitimacy to crypto, comfort to retail investors and will weed out platforms that don’t look after investors.”
How exchanges can protect investors from scams
Crypto scams occur when hackers compromise a social media account and post deceptive content to solicit cryptocurrency from the account’s followers.
The deceptive content usually references prominent crypto exchanges, celebrities, or business leaders to exploit the victim’s trust.
Jeremy recommends investors never trade crypto on social media, “Always use a reputable, licensed exchange platform, such as Gemini, which has never been hacked.”
“Crypto exchanges should take scams seriously and proactively search the web and social media for scams impersonating their brand, and block transactions to bad wallet addresses.”
“Within the past three months alone, Gemini has prevented dozens of transactions destined for scam wallet addresses, saving its customers more than $200,000.”
The environmental impact of bitcoin
“Bitcoin’s carbon emissions is misrepresented. Energy usage does not necessarily mean carbon emissions. The bitcoin mining industry is one of the most renewables-focused.”
“Research shows that 76% of bitcoin miners use renewable energy sources, and 39% of total miner energy consumption comes from renewables,” says Jeremy.
Ether, the crypto to watch in 2021
“Ether has been outperforming bitcoin growth in the last 3-4 months,” Jeremy Ng asserts.
While bitcoin is hard and sound money, Ether is a new approach to crypto: smart money on a blockchain platform that is now being accepted by some merchants and vendors.
“Eth2 is an upgrade to the network from proof-of-work (PoW) to a consensus mechanism called proof-of-stake (PoS), with reduction in energy consumption the biggest impact,” says Jeremy.
