John Mack, the former Chief Executive Officer for Morgan Stanley, is taking the plunge into the cryptocurrency world in a big way as he breaks from traditional investment models in order to launch an ICO.
Mack is one of a few traditionalists who is moving with the times, hoping to not be left out in the digital currency cold as it plows astronomically forward. Many in this traditional sphere of investments have been skeptical of what cryptocurrency can offer.
Omega One
The project that the former investment CEO is hanging his hat on is Omega One, which is, according to Alex Gordon-Brander of Omega One, “the bridge between traditional capital markets and the crypto markets.”
This melding of the traditional aspects of investment with the new and unheralded world of cryptocurrency seems to be a safe baby step towards an institutional adoption of cryptocurrency markets.
Omega will be launching its own ICO, and if Mack’s enthusiasm is to be believed, he will be a huge driving factor in pressing the drive for Omega on the open market.
Mack the Revolutionary
After having followed cryptocurrencies and the cryptocurrency market for several years, Mack believes that a company like Omega One is poised to transform the whole burgeoning industry. In fact, in a recent interview with Bloomberg, he states:
I have been watching and investing in the cryptocurrency market over the last several years, and I find Omega One to be an important next step in the emergence of this new economy.
It is understandable why Mack is looking to a company like Omega One, and backing them, as their purpose seems to be to offer cryptocurrency investment in a similar style as to regular asset investments. By doing so, digital currencies are pushed into the broader public view, and therefore more readily available to investors.
The Introduction of Institutionalized Investors
While Mack joins a list of growing traditional investors, the question has always been: How do these giants of their field make the same impact in a new field where the playing field is essentially leveled? Mack has chosen his backing of Omega as a way to do just that, but there are other methods as well.
Education of the digital currency sphere is what seems to be a huge factor in holding back many investors, who, if they joined, would add a lot of legitimacy to the cryptocurrency world. However, those who are determined enough, are making the splash that they need to.
Does a successful traditional investor getting involved in digital currencies make you more confident of it, or not? Does this new technology need these old-school investors to legitimize it? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of AP, Omega.one, Wikimedia Commons, Reuters/Mike Seger