July 18, 2022
A cryptocurrency is a type of virtual or digital currency secured via cryptography. This means it is nearly impossible to counterfeit. Cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly more accepted by Merchants and payment providers to make purchases. Recently, PayPal announced that it will be allowing UK customers to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies through their accounts.
Unlike traditional currencies, the majority of cryptocurrencies operate without backing from a central bank or government. Instead of regulation and protection from governments, cryptocurrencies rely heavily on blockchain technology.
A blockchain is a type of database that stores data of every transaction for its respective cryptocurrency. The record is distributed across numerous computers and therefore cannot be changed or tampered with. Because of this, some people may argue that crypto transactions are more secure than traditional currency transactions.
Crypto is an industry that is vast and ever-changing, so to get a first-hand account, Cardstream spoke to Mann Matharu, Founder-CEO of Qi, a company helping businesses to take digital currency
payments.
“There are far more crypto holders than ever before. An estimated 300 million people now hold crypto in blockchain-based digital wallets” Mann states. Although crypto’s overall value has dropped, from a market capitalisation of $3.2 trillion to $890 billion, more businesses than ever are looking to implement crypto transactions.
Mann explained how “85% of US businesses are looking to go live with crypto acceptance functionality.” This opens a new stream of income to which Merchants may not have had access previously.
Mann shared some predictions of where the cryptocurrency industry could potentially be heading. “Crypto could become far more widely used and accepted, with more applications being powered by blockchain technology, especially in the wake of the new world of Web3. Crypto in the future could, in some cases, become a back-end technology as opposed to front-facing.”
Long term, it is Mann’s belief, as well as that of others in the crypto market, that “Bitcoin could go north of $200,000 in value in the next 5 years. As well as this, big card schemes are going to start getting involved in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, as seen already with Mastercard.”
Please note that the thoughts and ideas expressed or reported in this blog piece are not to be considered when making a decision to invest in cryptocurrencies. Please seek independent financial advice, as cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, with gains in their value being balanced by losses.
To learn about more ways that you can extend your Merchant’s payment processing capabilities, please contact Cardstream.
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