Despite the persisting bear market and low market sentiment, the potential impacts of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology remain astounding, and many investors have maintained their confidence in this fact.
One industry insider shares this sentiment, explaining in a recent interview with the Express, that cryptocurrency will likely change the current economic system for the better.
Marcus Swanepoel, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange, Luno, expressed immense confidence in the future impacts of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, but also noted that he is unsure of how soon digital currency will replace physical fiat currency.
“Money is not going to be the same forever and ever. I believe we happen to be sitting in the middle of one of these changes. I don’t know if it is going to be Bitcoin or Ethereum – or if it is going to happen in a hundred years or one year. But the future of money will involve some kind of global currency that is completely interoperable,” he said.
Many industry outsiders, including the notorious economist, Nouriel Roubini, are critical of the cryptocurrency industry due to its public perception as being anti-establishment and libertarian. He also disagrees with the idea that digital currencies are the natural evolutionary progression for the banking system, saying in a controversial tweet that:
“These crypto lunatics know nothing about money, banking finance, monetary policy. They have zero financial literacy. And they pretend to reinvent money. A solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. And a solution that is the return to the Stone Age of barter.”
Despite Roubini’s negativity, Swanepoel explained that the adoption of crypto doesn’t have to be linked with any sort of anti-government or anti-bank movement, and that it can simply mark the technological progression of the banking industry:
“I am not anti-bank or anti-government. But if you think about the way the banking system was built, it was built for a non-digital age. There is nothing wrong with the existing financial system – it is probably just quite inefficient for the world we live in today.”
Cryptocurrency Prices Influence Public Adoption
Despite the fundamentals surrounding a cryptocurrency not changing despite their prices, Swanepoel said that they do indirectly influence adoption, because it shapes the public’s perception of its validity as a currency, commodity, or a store of value.
“But the reality is, a lot of people at the moment are using it to speculate and invest and that means the Bitcoin price has quite a big influence on adoption.” He added that despite pricing being a temporary setback, its influence on crypto’s adoption is “a reality of life.”
In addition to influencing the public’s perception of cryptocurrency, the markets also aid in the public’s involvement in the industry. Following the 2017-2018 bull run and proceeding bear crash, the markets still grew, with a plethora of new investors becoming intrigued by the industry and its potential.
As more investors enter the market and global regulations begin to take shape, it is very likely that widespread adoption will rapidly unfold, bringing the market to new highs.
Featured image from Shutterstock.