Although cryptocurrencies have become too big for institutional investors to ignore, there are still significant barriers deterring them from entering the crypto space, said speakers at Profit & Loss’ 2018 Latin America conference in Mexico City.

Speaking on a panel at the event, Michael Moro, the CEO of Genesis Trading, argued that a lot of traditional financial services firms were caught out by both the popularity and the longevity of crypto-assets.

“I believe that – especially in the US – that the major institutions got caught. I don’t believe they ever wanted to deal in cryptos, they thought it was a fad or a ponzi scheme and were waiting for the bubble to burst and the whole thing to go away.