Raise your hand if the terms “cryptocurrency” and “blockchain” result in a complete mental block and a puzzled look on your face.
I totally get it. I, too, was in the same boat for a while.
But think back to a time when the internet first came onto the technology scene…
How about setting up an email? Wi-Fi? During their times as emerging technologies, these current staples were widely considered scary, foreign, and especially difficult to understand and use.
Now, cryptocurrencies (i.e. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, etc.) are the next big, seemingly scary thing.
Yet, for many, the concept will take a long time to understand.
Carsun Knuth, vice president of operations at HybridBlock, a leader in developing advanced blockchain solutions, provided this statement on how we could begin moving toward inserting everything “crypto” into mainstream life:
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are rapidly becoming household names across the world. Yet, the number of people who actually understand how to create their own wallet, fund it, purchase, and use their first bitcoin is still extremely low. Our mission is not only to change the way consumers perceive the crypto space and the opportunities that surround it, but also to make it easy for them to understand it and get involved.
Cryptocurrencies aren’t really the dark and dirty Wild West of the investing world that they’re made out to be; this is a common misconception. Cryptos left their dark age months ago.
Sure, they are understandably appealing to tech-savvy millennials who came of age during the 2008 financial crisis and are now watching the rise of anti-globalist populism threaten the stability of the international economy.
Unlike previous generations, many of these greenhorn investors don’t have pensions or 401(k)s, are mistrustful of socking money away in mutual funds, and are fully accustomed to owning digital assets that have no concrete properties.
As traditional paths to upper-middle-class stability are being blocked by debt, exorbitant housing costs, and a shaky job market, these investors are viewing cryptocurrency not only as a hedge against another Dow Jones crash but also as the most rational — and even utopic — means of investing their money.
But there are still plenty of dissenters who are less enthusiastic about the future of cryptos and their adoption, arguing that we’re in the midst of the biggest bubble ever that’s fueled by speculative trading blocks in Japan and South Korea and also pointing out previous Bitcoin crashes as justifications for their skepticism.
It’s time to put all of that to rest.
There are some barriers to mass popularity, but it’s getting easier and cryptocurrencies are well on their way to becoming mainstream…
Mainstream Requirements
First off, educating the world about the entire workings and uses of cryptocurrencies is paramount.
There need to be additional engaging educational platforms and mainstream press coverage — all with the goal of teaching the masses about the benefits and opportunities of blockchain and also of relevant cryptocurrencies.
Buying cryptos must be made easier and more accessible for average individuals — meaning, easy enough for grandma and grandpa!
Cryptos must also be easy to use in order for them to be adopted into mainstream society.
Fortunately, a growing number of online merchants and brick-and-mortar establishments are adopting crypto payments, along with other financial tech tools, enabling usage that is more widespread.
You can currently buy houses, boats, cars, a haircut, a meal, and even furniture with cryptocurrencies — virtually anything.
Crypto credit cards, debit cards, bill payment services, and other similar innovations are enabling customers to use this payment method for everyday transactions.
This would really bring the use of cryptocurrency to complete mainstream acceptance…
The Future of Crypto Payments
Why do you think cryptocurrencies haven’t been fully integrated into the mainstream yet?
It’s because of their usability.
Some, though not many, retailers accept them. But even if they do, they can be quite a hassle.
In order for cryptocurrencies to fully achieve mainstream adoption, they need to become quick and easy to use.
Of course, the company that manages to crack the ease-of-payment platform would have a massive amount of business value.
There are significant challenges with creating a solution that is good enough to allow this level of seamless real-world transactions. But as we’ve seen with other challenges in the crypto ecosystem, where there’s value to be had, there will be hardworking teams addressing them.
One such team is Bonpay, which has already released a significant part of its vision for seamless crypto-backed payments.
The Bonpay team has already launched its platform, which lets its customers store their crypto savings in a wallet that then allows seamless, instant transfers into fiat payment methods when needed. This means that your Bitcoin account can also function dualistically as a fiat checking account for purchases and transfers.
That may involve an electronic wallet on any device, like smartphone or tablet, or with a physical card, which Bonpay provides its users with for free.
Bonpay is allowing its users to get closer to fiat-level convenience with cryptocurrencies than ever before. It will be interesting to see how the company addresses the challenges of making its solution completely mainstream over the next few months.
Another company that’s working to eliminate the usability crisis for cryptos is TenX.
TenX graduated from PayPal’s startup incubation program earlier this year. It’s aiming to solve the liquidity problem by creating cryptocurrency Visa cards that will make it very easy and convenient to spend crypto-assets in real life.
These Visa cards would be accepted almost everywhere in the world (almost 36 million points of acceptance), and TenX offers no processing fees for any online or offline payments.
In addition to the Visa card, a cryptocurrency wallet app is also offered to its users where the tokens are stored until the customer wishes to spend them. Then, the funds are exchanged into fiat for the best possible rate available.
Even banks all over the world are looking to make the switch.
Back in July, Barclay’s CEO for personal and corporate banking, Ashok Vaswani, revealed that the lender had opened discussions with U.K. regulators about adopting cryptocurrencies:
We have been talking with a couple of fintechs [financial technology companies] and have actually gone with the fintechs to the FCA [Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority] to talk about how we could bring, the equivalent of bitcoin, not necessarily bitcoin, but cryptocurrencies into play. Obviously [it’s] a new area, obviously an area we’ve got to be careful with. We are working out way through it.
Vaswani’s comments came after several central banks from across Europe and Asia said they were looking into establishing digital-only currencies in addition to traditional denominations.
IBM, for one, announced that it had made a deal with the Digital Trade Chain Consortium — a group of seven European banks that includes Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Société Générale, and UniCredit — for building a digital trade platform that will run on IBM’s cloud.
Some cryptos are already connected to banks, like five-year-old Ripple, which has connections to over 75 banks.
The crypto-world is a booming and dizzying market, and everyone is trying to get in on it.
Brock Pierce, a cofounder of Blockchain Capital and a relative veteran of the ICO market, is predicting that the underlying technology of blockchain — essentially a public record of actions — will have more of an impact on our world than the internet has.
Pierce added:
The implications are huge, and it’s going to have huge implications not only on venture, but private equity, real estate, and digitizing currency. This is going to be the technology that democratizes the global financial system so everybody has equal access.
Bringing cryptos mainstream will reorganize the entire financial system.
Pierce is right: The implications will be huge.
That’s all for now.
Until next time,
John Peterson
Pro Trader Today