
Currently, only around 10% of the world’s population owns some form of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and this figure has only seen a real increase over the past 2 or 3 years.
If you aren’t quite sure about cryptocurrency and its volatility, then you’re not alone, but regardless of your thoughts on the market, there is a rather large possibility that in the near future, cryptocurrency will be impacting a number of areas, including businesses.
Businesses need to grow, develop, and keep up with the times to be successful, so it makes sense that more and more companies and businesses are looking at how they can implement cryptocurrency into their day-to-day structure.
But just how will cryptocurrency transform businesses and what does this mean for the future? Let’s find out more.
1. Mainstream Businesses Are Already Adopting It
A number of companies are already adopting cryptocurrency into their business plans in some way or another. MicroStrategy, a publicly-traded company dating back to 1989, has already endorsed its use of Bitcoin on a number of platforms, with CEO Michael Saylor even saying that the cryptocurrency was superior to cash. Although this comment raised eyebrows at the time, a number of companies followed suit and have found a way to add it to their business strategy.
Tesla Has Invested $1.5 Billion Into Bitcoin
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is a self-proclaimed “tech king” so it is no surprise that the company is heavily invested in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, with up to $1.5 Billion of company shares invested. Up until last year, you could buy a Tesla vehicle outright with cryptocurrency, until mining shares temporarily paused crypto sales.
2. It’s Becoming Easier For Consumers To Pay For Goods
With the increase in popularity of cryptocurrency, it’s to be expected that more and more eCommerce stores are offering cryptocurrency as a payment method. PayPal, which is already hailed as one of the early pioneers in digital and online payments, recently rolled out the feature to both buy and make transactions using cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum.
Whilst some traders criticised PayPal’s decision to not allow users to transfer their coins into a private wallet, it makes sense that the company that simplified the process of international payments become invested in cryptocurrency.
As well as PayPal, Mastercard and Visa have also explored avenues for simplifying the process of using cryptocurrency as a payment method. Two of the world’s biggest payment networks have publicly endorsed the use of cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, as a payment method. Visa was allowing transactions using stable coins on the Ethereum blockchain up until recently.
Mastercard followed a similar path and announced last year that customers would be able to make transactions using cryptocurrency. With these two big companies jumping on the crypto bandwagon, the doors are opening for wider mainstream adoption and use amongst business owners in the near future.
3. Paying Employees Could Be More Convenient For Businesses
If a global company has a team of employees who are located all over the world, then ensuring that wages are processed correctly can be a real hassle. Businesses need to convert their currency into potentially dozens of different international currencies just to simply pay employees, which can be time-consuming and costly. This is where cryptocurrency payments come in.
Cryptocurrency allows you to make transactions to any country in the world, no matter the time or day of the week, for minimal transaction costs. These transactions are instant, meaning that there’s no wait for bank processing and as Bitcoin transactions are public on the blockchain, this means that all parties involved can see the detail and immediately know the status. Cutting out the bank process involves big wins for both the employer and employee and makes the process of getting paid much simpler.
4. It’s Becoming Better Protected
A lot of would-be investors have so far steered clear of cryptocurrencies due to the fear that it is hugely unregulated, often referring to it as the ‘Wild West’ of investments. There is a high volume of scams within the market, whether it be through regulated brokers making and losing investments using traders’ money for their own personal gain, or scams using crypto wallets and transactions.
Regulations differ in almost every country around the world, but more and more pressure is being placed on governments to implement some kind of protection in the form of regulations. As well as this, investment fraud lawyers are becoming increasingly more available to help victims of crypto and trading scams recover lost funds they may have lost through bad trade decisions, or using a regulated broker.
With the introduction of better regulations and guidelines, cryptocurrency is highly likely to be adopted by more businesses soon as it develops a more “legitimate” and “safe” persona. Although some of the risks involved with cryptocurrency are down to the individual making the trades or investments, the introduction of better regulations can help to ease any uncertainties investors may have.