Dunamu CEO Lee Sirgoo, left, speaks with Michael J. Casey, head of the Decentralized AI Society, during a session at the Upbit D Conference at The Shilla Seoul hotel, Thursday. Courtesy of Dunamu

Bitcoin and other digital currencies are rallying, underpinned by investor expectations of a further spike in valuation amid eased market regulations the second administration of Donald Trump will bring.

However, the blind craze en masse warrants a cautionary approach, or the heavy reliance on misguided hopes will come at the cost of healthy investment priorities, according to a leading cryptocurrency expert.

"Whether it's Sam Bankman-Fried or Mt. Gox or Donald Trump, they are not our saviors. We have to save ourselves," said Michael J. Casey, former chief content officer at CoinDesk and head of the Decentralized AI Society.

The comment came during the seventh Upbit D Conference on Thursday at The Shilla Seoul hotel. Dunamu, operator of Upbit, organized the annual blockchain event to foster the growth and expansion of the blockchain ecosystem. This year's theme was "Blockchain: Powering Real World Change."

In attendance were leading global industry minds from various fields, including the blockchain, financial services and crypto exchange sectors.

The conference discussed the impacts of blockchain, real-world assets and the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in global markets. Also on the agenda were industry trends, financing methods, policy and technology developments and culture.

Casey said investors should be wary of placing all their hope in one entity or person, adding that a greater focus should be placed on building a system strong enough to withstand external shocks.

"The aforementioned figures' interest is not necessarily in saving us. We've got to build systems that are anti-fragile that can survive no matter what," he said. "I also think that we need to be a little careful about putting all of our eggs in one basket."

Bankman-Fried, founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was found guilty of fraud and other crimes last November after the exchange collapsed.

Mt. Gox is a now-defunct bitcoin exchange in Japan. It handled over 70 percent of all bitcoin transactions worldwide by early 2014, but ceased operations amid involvement in the loss and theft of hundreds of thousands of bitcoins.

An overview of the Upbit D Conference at The Shilla Seoul hotel, Thursday / Courtesy of Dunamu

The former CoinDesk executive said the regulatory constraints on the crypto industry will see a material improvement from the "quite harmful" past few years.

Previous U.S. administrations certainly in the United States stifled the ability of many financial institutions that wanted to join, in his view.

They were very concerned about the compliance risk. But once that overhang is removed, mainstream organizations and banks will have a much better chance of entering the industry.

"Capital will be unlocked, enabling a much bigger opening up of the system," he said.

In a separate session, Keith O., head of asset management and structuring at Archax Capital, ascribed the lack of clear regulatory guidance, especially in the U.S., to the underuse of the technology by the regulators.

"We have people that are very smart and very capable in their fields of expertise, but the majority of them have never installed the blocks in their wallets," he said. "They don't even understand how the technology works."

He said the new Trump administration's showing an appetite to install experts in different industries is a cause for optimism.

"If we place people who understand the technology, care about it and use it, they will be able to make much more informed decisions about regulation, and hopefully we can finally get some clarity," he said.