Crypto was not created to be regulated. "Crypto regulation" is a perversion.
I know it sounds strong, maybe even obscene. You most certainly won't find these words spoken on any of the crypto mass media, like CoinTelegraph, Crypto Daily and whatnot. Nobody would release an article mentioning crypto regulation is the biggest nonsense imaginable. Go to governance forums of major protocols - DAO or not, you're not allowed to spit on government regulation.
There's more than one generation in crypto nowadays, and the newer generations seem to be all in for the money - you enter crypto and receive money from the sky, "financial freedom" in the house! No wonder "crypto regulation" is deemed to be good for the industry.
I really doubt newcomers to crypto today have even read the BTC Whitepaper. I can't imagine Satoshi taking into account the future "crypto regulations".
I personally think a grave mistake is being made by the majority of crypto natives today, thinking any regulation whatsoever might be in any way good for the sector. No, it can't be.
The only way I can justify this common trend is by telling myself the majority of people just don't recognize who the enemy is, what they are capable of and how they operate. I also know that many people are trigger happy to call something a conspiracy theory, just because somebody mentions a "they" and an "enemy". Honestly, if somebody thinks that crypto, as a sector, as a phenomena if you will, has no enemies and nobody powerful hates it, well... maybe he should stay out of crypto for his own sake.
Crypto needs restraint - of course! - but not by frikin governments!? Crypto needs to reinvent it's own mechanisms for regulation, just like it reinvents gaming, just like it reinvents the financial system, just like it reinvents the web...
A government regulation by traditional institutions is like a bullet to the head for crypto. What we need is the invention of regulatory crypto protocols. OR, regulatory standards, like some DAO voted wide regulatory traits, that are made part of the future basic token standards. Crypto regulation should be crypto native.
If we are in crypto, it's because we don't need Them (governments) anymore. And not because we do. If I was happy with my government and its regulations, hell, I could just buy a frikin CBDC - correct me if you think I'm wrong.
P.S.
If institutional investors are waiting on the sidelines, because they need "more regulations" to enter crypto... excuse me, that's not good for crypto? That just means they are SLAVES to the powers that be - governments and TradFi regulators - that's why institutional investors wait for regulations to enter. Government regulations would mean crypto is a conquered sector, and institutional investors will be allowed to get in only after their masters have taken control of this new sector.
So the problem is all theirs. Lack of regulations is not crypto's problem. Obviously.