New global research from VALK shows concerns about custodial services and security from institutional investors about Decentralised Finance (DeFi), although these are generally diminishing following strong growth in the sector and optimism about its future.
The study among professional investors working for institutional investors, hedge funds, fund managers, pension funds, investment banks, private equity and venture capital in the UK, US, France, Germany, Hong Kong,Si ngapore, Australia, and Brazil in October 2021, found 54 per cent are very concerned about custodial services in DeFi while 52 per cent are very concerned about security issues.
Regarding the regulatory environment – just 28 per cent are very concerned – while only 21 per cent are very concerned about risk.
Some 15 per cent of the investors questioned are not concerned at all about custodial services and 14 per cent have no worries about security, while 11 per cent say they have no concerns about risk and just 7 per cent have no worries about the regulatory environment, with the majority expecting this to improve.
The research for VALK, which has developed Merlin, the unique DeFi Smart Wallet, due to launch in January 2022, found 84 per cent of investors expect the regulatory environment to improve over the next three years, with 12 per cent expecting a dramatic improvement.
