Yat Siu, the founder of Animoca Brands, spoke at WebSummit Rio on April 16 on a panel titled "Bitcoin’s Revenge: Is Web3 Making a Comeback?” 

At the panel, Siu said he has no doubt that Bitcoin (BTC) will reach $1 million:

"I do believe that Bitcoin could reach over a million dollars-plus over time. But, I believe, not because it is a store value, but because it will be one of the most important status symbols of the digital economy in the future.”

Cointelegraph Ambassador Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderated the panel, at which Ripple president Monica Long appeared alongside Siu. Long emphasized that the development of the crypto market is more important than the price of Bitcoin:

"I would say the more important place for all of us to focus on is real utility for the assets, and that’s what's going to drive long-term value and stability and liquidity for all of the assets in crypto."

Long praised Brazil and said the country is one of the places where there is a real focus on crypto development:

"Brazil [...] is a place where we're seeing breaking ground for that type of development. You have a government that  creating clear rules around virtual assets, [and] a community of focused developers, and you have traditional finance banks like Itaú that are a blessing to crypto. So that is the mix of a real focus on crypto.”

Cornèr focused on the importance of Web3 for giving power to the people, especially those who do not have many choices in society. She said:

"Web3 is about giving power to the people, to those who didn't have access to certain things."

As the panel moved on to Web3, Long highlighted that, in contrast to other market cycles, there will be more maturity in Web3 companies this year, and equally important, this maturity is reflected in its current institutional adoption. She said:

"If you think about it, some of the biggest brands in financial services, like Goldman, BlackRock and Fidelity, they actually build their products and offerings in bear markets, meaning they see the bigger picture. So I think that's what's going to be very different this year, the institutional embrace.”

Web3 and spot Bitcoin ETF

Siu stated that financial inclusion and its effects, particularly on blockchain and Web3 games, are more important than institutional adoption. He said:

“We look in places like the Philippines, or even in some places in Latin America, millions of people in the world who don’t have a bank, don’t have a university education, in some cases don’t even have a high-school education. But now though having a crypto wallet, they are included in the new financial system, are becoming somewhat financially literate, taught through gaming, which is another form of play.”

Regarding spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Long said Ripple is working with banks and payment companies around the world to use blockchain as a layer or a new infrastructure to make global money much more efficient. She noticed a greater interest in the crypto market from banks and has been wondering how to ensure regulated exposure to the market:

"As here in Brazil, there is certainly a much stronger liftoff, like Hong Kong, and that's another key market. I think one of the interesting things is that we are not done yet with the ETFs, broadly speaking,  meaning Bitcoin ETF is going to emerge in other markets. [...] Now in Hong Kong, then there's Singapore, there's Tokyo, there's London, there's Europe.”

Derek Andersen contributed to the English translation of this article.