Is crypto mainstream? Industry leaders intervene

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While there are a few key factors behind the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, they are definitely becoming more familiar in society. A group of industry executives recently shared their thoughts on Qwoted.

One of the reasons is the craze for NFT, said Victor Zhang, founder of AlchemyNFT.

Many people are discovering cryptocurrencies for the first time, thanks to NFTs. As more and more people learn how to buy crypto, create a wallet, connect to an NFT marketplace, and transact, it creates a virtuous circle.

Memes, along with NFTs, have helped cryptocurrencies go mainstream, says Token Metrics founder and CEO Ian Balina.

Robinhood recently announced that 50% of its second-quarter transaction-based income was crypto, with 62% of that figure being Dogecoin, Balina said. According to Google Trends, NFTs have become more popular than DeFi, showing a general interest in digitally rare collectibles.

Look at the development of cryptocurrencies through a traditional lens, and you can see where they are and, more importantly, what is likely to come next.

In the technology adoption lifecycle, the blockchain and cryptocurrency space has passed the innovators phase and is currently in the early adopters phase, said Larry Pang, IoTeX business development manager. . This year, we’ve seen well-known names like Visa, Facebook, and SoftBank build, adopt, and invest in the cryptocurrency space in a variety of ways, which legitimizes the technology and, more importantly, gives consumers the necessary confidence. to explore this nascent industry.

Zhang said the industry is set to become mainstream, the point where consumers shift from knowing cryptocurrencies to actually using them. Some challenges remain, starting with making them more user-friendly for newcomers. However, great strides have been made on this front, and Zhang expects this to lead the next wave of adoption.

Pang endorsed and cited the 68 million Coinbases users and the industry’s collective $ 2,000 billion market capitalization as evidence. The next step is for people to use crypto as utility tokens in P2P networks rather than pure investment vehicles.

Several executives spoke of the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies through the prism of traditional models. Use generally lags behind awareness. This is true, but there are deliberate steps that can be taken to boost this adoption, the most important of which is regulatory clarity from the SEC and CFTC. Other jurisdictions are more advanced in this area and offer development havens for the industry. This does not mean lax regulations, as Switzerland and Singapore have fairly strict rules. But they are clear and that is what the industry needs.

[Interest in cryptocurrencies among institutional investors is growing and] it correlates positively with regulatory clarity, said Specter.ai chief executive Kay Khemani. As the latter has increased somewhat, large companies have already started adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets.

Institutions are regulated entities audited by regulated audit firms. As a result, it is not possible for them to add unregulated or unclassified assets to their balance sheets without risking their own reputation and undermining their fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. Once an appropriate and globally coordinated framework for Bitcoin and serious digital assets is in place, an institutional wall of money will likely find a place there.

Pelicoin consultant Jacob Hoffman agrees and said he sees more established, large-scale financial institutions warming to cryptocurrencies. PayPal’s moves have played a key role, he believes.

Earlier (last) month, PayPal relaxed its crypto rules and will allow its UK customers to trade and hold Bitcoin, Litecoin and other major cryptocurrencies in their accounts, Hoffman said. PayPal’s decision to adopt crypto as a mainstream payment option suggests that cryptocurrencies, historically reserved for fringe groups, have now been approved by the general public.

Watch Tesla, Square and MicroStrategy add crypto to their balance sheets, noted Don Basile, CEO of Roman DBDR. You don’t get much more mainstream than that.

These updates are all retrospective. PayPal’s launch of crypto trading options is retrospective validation that crypto is mainstream, Basil said. PayPal provides crypto accessibility because it is in high demand and is a validated growth opportunity for both revenue and profit.

Another sign of the spread of cryptocurrency is its deployment in traditional products and services, explained CompoSecure CEO Jon Wilk. His company recently launched a crypto-rewards credit card with the Gemini Exchange.

This news builds on Crypto.com’s announcement last month that allowed payments to be made from crypto for purchases, Wilk said. A recent report from the Bank of America showed that this is also a trend among traditional financial institutions. He said that 21% of major banks today are integrating blockchain into their services, such as JP Morgan, Citibank and Wells Fargo.

Look at the developments over the past 20 months and try to convince gate.io CMO Marie Tatibouet that crypto has not become mainstream. MicroStrategy, Tesla, and others have allocated a significant portion of their balance sheets to crypto. Visa purchased an NFT CryptoPunk as a store of value and a work of art. An NFT art was sold for $ 69 million to Christies.

Dogecoin has dominated Twitter and the mainstream market, Tatibouet said. He even made an appearance on SNL. Celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, etc., have embraced and promoted NFTs. Sports icons like Lionel Messi and Tom Brady are actively involved in crypto or are paid in crypto.

Cryptocurrency isn’t the only development happening here either, Tatibouet added. Watch how industries are using blockchain to improve operating systems.

From Walmart and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company strengthening their supply chain with blockchain to banks experimenting with blockchain to improve international payments, it looks like we’re on the verge of some truly formidable innovations via the idea of ​​Satoshi Nakamotos. So, I don’t think cryptos are about to go mainstream. I believe cryptos ARE mainstream.

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