The road to cryptocurrency’s success has been fraught with setbacks, price fluctuations, and general cynicism. But now, in 2021, it seems that it is moving ever-closer to mainstream and widespread adoption.
While it is still plagued with security and crime concerns, and wild price fluctuations, businesses and members of the public are learning to work with virtual currencies.
Indicators of Success
One indicator of this is the uptick in the number of people who are buying, mining, and holding different cryptocurrencies. A recent report found that more than 106 million people globally are using cryptocurrency. It also observed a 17% increase in holders between December 2020 and January 2021.
According to Statista, the number of blockchain wallet users also increased sharply in the first half of 2020 before leveling out slightly for the remainder of the year. This means that more and more people are looking to buy cryptocurrency UK for purposes such as trading, selling, investments, or for using on various platforms.
Another indicator of its success is the fact that cryptocurrency was the top-performing asset of 2020. During the course of the year, its value increased some 800%- a figure that is generally unsurpassed in other kinds of assets. Despite the onset of the pandemic in March, Bitcoin was the asset to hold during the year but other coins also saw significant increases in value.
While there were previous big increases in the value of cryptocurrencies, this time was a bit different. Increasing acceptance from regulators and institutional investors helped to boost the price.
This, combined with a shift away from cash, towards digital currencies, and interest in secure, anonymous, and fraud-resistant payment methods fueled its success.
Combined with the number of payment providers and service providers that are integrating crypto payments, this has led to analysts’ confidence that its increase in value could well continue.
Visa and Tesla
Just recently, one of the world’s largest payment settlement companies, VISA announced it would be allowing payment settlement in USD coin, a US Dollar-backed virtual currency.
The company announced it had teamed up with Crypto.com and was hoping to roll it out to other partners as the year went on. Bitcoin surged as a result of the news, hitting $58,300 per coin.
USD Coin is a virtual currency that pegs its value to that of the USD. This provides it will significant stability and cancels out risks like the volatility that are associated with other cryptocurrencies.
A few days prior, CEO of Tesla Elon Musk said he would allow customers to pay for electric cars with Bitcoin in the hopes of encouraging people to brace the technology more in their day-to-day life.
As our world gets more digitized and the trend towards engaging with digital and online services increases, so to will the demand for virtual and digital currencies. Whether they are crypto coins like Bitcoin and Ether, or stablecoins like the US Coin or Tether, we can expect to see more members of the public embracing this technology and integrating it into their asset portfolios and day-to-day shopping experiences.
Featured photo credit: Pexels.
