For the avoidance of doubt, those who think cryptocurrency is a bubble waiting for a disaster should have a rethink, as global financial merchants, captains of industries and global money bags have proved critics wrong.
If PayPal, MasterCard, Visa Card, asset management giant Fidelity, Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla Inc to mention a few, could accept cryptocurrency for goods and services, you better have a rethink of your misconception of the digital currency operated on blockchain technology
The chronicle of events in the crypto space in the past few months show that many countries of the world have been deceived not to believe that cryptocurrency is the new global legal tender.
After the developed countries have run ahead of the developing countries, they have now opened the window for developing countries to peep into what is about to happen to digital currency in the nearest future.
In the nearest future, your national fiat which you call legal tender would be worthless as digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc will dictate the value of your fiats.
Recall that the cryptocurrency emergence was heavily criticised by the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and global powers who claimed it was a threat to the fiats. But they have however kept silent about the recent development.
Bitcoin began in the United States, having over 2,342 Bitcoin ATMs in 2018 in their support. During the cold war between China and the United States, China declared the dumping of the dollar for cryptocurrency and subsequently created her national cryptocurrency. China had since been encouraging its citizens to use the new national digital currency for goods and services. What does that tell you?
A week ago, India soft-pedalled its ban on cryptocurrency, now demands operators to include cryptocurrency as part of their financial asset in a yearly report.
Now, here is the development that would blow your mind.
PayPal Allows Customer Use Cryptocurrency
On Tuesday, April 6 PayPal Holdings Inc begun allowing U.S. consumers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay at its 29 million worldwide merchants.
Paypal presently has 346 million users globally who are ready to pay digital assets. The crypto space believed that the development would significantly boost the use of cryptocurrency in everyday commerce.
PayPal’s President and CEO, Dan Schulman in his remark told Reuters: “This is the first time you can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or a debit card inside your PayPal wallet.
“We think it is a transitional point where cryptocurrencies move from being predominantly an asset class that you buy, hold and or sell to now becoming a legitimate funding source to make transactions in the real world at millions of merchants.”
After a resounding success in operating cryptocurrency services in the United States, Paypal has said that the United Kingdom is its next target for cryptocurrency services.
According to the payment giant, in the next few months, the buy, sell and hold digital asset products could be available for Paypal’s U.K. customers.
Paypal’s Executive Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Jonathan Auerbach broke the news of the business expansion to the UK during Paypal’s Investor Day 2021 event.
MasterCard and Tesla Boost Cryptocurrency Space
However, PayPal is not the only financial merchant that has keyed into cryptocurrency, Visa, MasterCard and Tesla have done the same, thereby given cryptocurrency global acceptability.
Tesla, Elon Musk had in March tweeted that Tesla has begun accepting bitcoin payments.
He said: “Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency. “You can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin.”
Consequently, the bitcoin payment option has been added to the Tesla website along with a page explaining how to pay with the cryptocurrency.
On its website, Mastercard said that whatever your opinions on cryptocurrencies — from a dyed-in-wool fanatic to utter sceptic — the fact remains that these digital assets are becoming a more important part of the payments world.
It said: ”We are seeing this fact play out on the Mastercard network, with people using cards to buy crypto assets, especially during Bitcoin’s recent surge in value.
”We are also seeing users increasingly take advantage of crypto cards to access these assets and convert them into traditional currencies for spending.
”To be clear, this data is not of any individuals — it’s anonymized and in aggregate — but the trend is unmistakable.
”We are preparing right now for the future of crypto and payments, announcing that this year Mastercard will start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on our network.
”This is a big change that will require a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protection and compliance.
”Our philosophy on cryptocurrencies is straightforward: It’s about choice. Mastercard isn’t here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value – traditional or crypto – however, they want. It should be your choice, it’s your money.
Visa Takes Position on Cryptocurrency Space
On its part, Visa has become the first major payments network to settle transactions in USD Coin (USDC).
Support for digital currencies as a new type of settlement currency marks an important step forward for Visa’s network of networks strategy, which is designed to enhance all forms of money movement, whether on the Visa network or beyond.
Visa has spent the last year establishing a pathway for digital currency settlement within Visa’s existing treasury infrastructure, a platform that moves billions of dollars each day across thousands of institutions in more than 200 markets and 160 currencies.
Visa is seeking to be a leader in the booming cryptocurrency industry.
Visa said it accepted a virtual currency payment for the first time, marking a milestone for the 62-year-old company.
Specifically, the payments giant settled a transaction using cryptocurrency plumbing known as the Ethereum blockchain, a distributed accounting ledger based on the technology behind Bitcoin.
Visa said it worked with Anchorage, a Visa-backed cryptocurrency startup that is one of the U.S.’s newest federally chartered banks, to accept the payment.
Visa explained that’s part of a pilot program to make life easier for cryptocurrency businesses.
According to Visa, it wants to eliminate the hassle of it requiring customers to convert their cryptocurrency holdings into fiat currency, like U.S. dollars, before settling up their accounts on the Visa network.
The company said it plans to expand the feature to other members of its payments networks, and potentially to other virtual currencies, later this year.
Fidelity Seeks Creation of Bitcoin Exchange-traded Fund (ETF)
Similarly, on March 24, a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicates that asset management giant Fidelity was seeking to create a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Fidelity Digital Assets, the asset manager’s crypto-focused arm, will serve as custodian.
It is imperative to note that while no global power would tell any country to key into the cryptocurrency space having criticised it before, it is wise for developing countries to quickly seize the opportunity to boost their reserve. Cryptocurrency is a global legal tender that has come to stay.
