Recently, reports floated in the media about the Rothschilds developing their own cryptocurrency ‘IMMO.’

While major financial institutions world over have been embracing blockchain technology, recent reports suggest that they are also planning to go big on cryptocurrencies. But the Rothschild & Co is not just any other financial institution; it is a 200-year old banking dynasty.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin questioned the relevance of the Rothschilds in present times, adding, “If old-money-type high society people want to make their own currencies, go ahead, more power to them; see you in the moderately-free market.”

If the reports on the European banking dynasty’s cryptocurrency project hold any truth, crypto experts see it as a positive sign for the crypto market and expect more “legacy powers” to soon follow suit.

“As the industry matures, it will increasingly catch the eye of legacy financial powers. Investors at all levels are watching the developments in this space closely, and I fully expect more major players to take similar moves to the Rothschilds as it becomes even clearer that cryptocurrencies are here to stay,” Rob May, CEO of BotChain, a decentralized identity registry for bots, said.

Charles Michael Yim, CEO and Founder of Cointopia, believes that the cryptocurrency space can greatly benefit from the involvement of the Rothschilds, which would help with “maturation of the space and bring it more mainstream.” He said that “they can build real value because they are one of the oldest families in the financial space,” adding that his “attitude is a hedged 'wait and see’.”

Legacy Powers Entering Crypto Space – Driven By Fear Of Being Left Behind?

Crypto and blockchain space experts also see these reports as a sign of the evolution of the banking sector in general. They also consider this to be a sign of cryptocurrencies going mainstream.

Dominik Zynis, Co-founder of WINGS Foundation, said that the Rothschilds’ entry into crypto space is “sure sign” that “the centuries old banking system we have in the West is on the verge of crumbling.”

“With Italy practically shaking the markets with the possibility of nixing the failed Euro experiment, it is only practical a European banking institution like the Rothschilds would consider blockchain technology should the unthinkable happen in the Eurozone,” Zynis added.

Jena Binderup, Chief Communications Officer, Blocksafe, said that cryptocurrencies “are becoming items of interest in the mainstream,” adding that “now legacy finance circles and the Rothschilds' launch of their own cryptocurrency is their response to the evolution of traditional banking."

Duane Jacobsen, CFO at Blocksafe, said, "The Rothschilds are moving with the technology before they get left behind, which is also evidence that the market is here to stay."

Crypto Industry Incumbents Stand To Welcome Legacy Financial Powers

Existing players in the crypto and blockchain industry are welcoming such initiatives from the traditional banking sector and believe this is just the beginning to a “tokenized, distributed ledger enabled future.”

“It’s a great testament to the momentum of the crypto and tokenization space. The more that ‘traditional players’ enter the market, the more it validates what those of us in the space already know - it’s a tokenized, distributed ledger enabled future,” Nate D’Amico, CPO of TechBureau North America.

“This is only further validation of distributed ledger technology. It’s very encouraging that the market is now scaling beyond a developer community and is including more traditional investors, syndicates and venture capital. These are exciting times. It’s thrilling to be part of the advancement and overall transformation in the Fintech arena,” Tom Beno, CEO of TechBureau North America.

Miles Paschini, Co-founder of B21, a personal wealth management platform for cryptoassets, is not too surprised by the entrance of elite wealth holders into the cryptocurrency ecosystem and expects cryptoassets to eventually replace traditional assets classes.

"More broadly viewed cryptoassets, whether they be currency, digitized physical assets or something we have not envisioned yet, will likely replace existing assets classes. This is because tokenized cryptoassets will be far more fungible. Imagine trading tokenized gold for tokenized real estate, across borders and instantly,” Paschini said.

"The banking industry is overdue for disruption. The blockchain community welcomes anyone driving technology to affect real change, and help those marginalised. Whilst it’s great these guys are coming to play, it only serves as validation of the threat to their unfair, exclusionary, biased industry. Banking should be accessible, equitable and easy, yet incumbents continue to prevent this,” Reuben Coppa, CEO, intimate.io, said.

Areas Of Concern

Adam Koltun, Lead Evangelist for the Quantum Resistant Ledger, cautioned that with the influx of more value in the blockchain sector, the security stakes will also go up.

“It's exciting to see more institutions adopting cryptocurrency as a viable technology. However, we must all recognize that as more value continues to flood into the blockchain sector, the security stakes grow much higher. In the blockchain space, the bigger the prize, the more actively it must be secured,” said Koltun.