Building trust to move out of the crypto winter

Andrew Delves, Head of Crypto and Digital Assets, ClearBank

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” That was the famous cry of English Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, at the end of his celebrated poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’. Over 200 years on, and it’s a thought - or a question - that is relevant to the crypto industry today. The crypto winter has set in and could be with us for some time yet. Many industry insiders believe it could last for as long as 18-24 months, as the fallout from the collapse of FTX plays through in the courts - as well as in the court of public opinion. There’s no denying that crypto has taken a significant hit. As a whole market, cryptocurrencies are now worth around $1 trillion, down from a peak of $3 trillion. Bitcoin, which represents around 40% of the capitalisation of the entire market, currently has a value of about $21,000, where at its height last year reached $67,617. Even one of the world’s richest men, Elon Musk - or, more accurately, his company, Tesla  - booked a $34m loss from its Bitcoin holdin…