Bitcoin in the past few years has exploded in value with returns that no one expected. I’m sure we have all heard a story or two about someone who used bitcoin in the past to buy something and the bitcoin they used could have made them rich. Whether or not these stories are true, I do not think this move was stupid. They would have only been using it the way it was meant to be used. But when will that become the norm? When will Bitcoin be used as a currency?
I’m sure we have all heard that Square Inc (SQ.N) said it has started allowing select customers to buy and sell bitcoins on its Cash app, as it looks to tap into a craze that has sent the cryptocurrency up nearly sevenfold this year.
For the most part though, institutional investors have stayed away from bitcoin BTC=BTSP, the original and largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, despite outperforming all the world's traditional currencies.
But Square, best known for its technology that allows merchants to process credit card transactions without a cash register or expensive system, says its customers have shown an appetite for the "alt-currency."
Traditional investors still view bitcoin as opaque and highly speculative with potential to collapse. The currency's legitimacy has often been called into question because of its association with Silk Road, an online black market for illegal drugs.
China has already forced several bitcoin exchanges to close down, while Russia's central bank said it would ban cryptocurrency trading websites. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has called cryptocurrency a "fraud".
None of that has deterred investors who continue to buy bitcoins, and that had attracted the attention of U.S. exchange operators.
CME Group Inc (CME.O), the world's largest derivatives exchange operator, said last month it will launch a futures contract for bitcoin later this year.
Rival Cboe Global Markets Inc (CBOE.O) is awaiting regulatory approval for a bitcoin exchange traded fund they announced earlier this year.
Major financial firms will soon start to offer bitcoin or similar products as an investment option, with a turning-point product about six months away, Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, a firm that bets on cryptocurrencies said earlier this week.
Now we can see the world is starting to slowly catch up to the cryptocurrency world, although I’m focusing on Bitcoin right, other currencies like Eth and Litecoin and some alt coins are also in competition, trying to get into as many retailers and even small businesses.
Not only is it revolutionary, but it’s a win win for the company that accepts the new currency, and the currency its self. But what about for the person spending it? Will they be left behind while the rest of the crypto market goes ahead if we spend our coins now rather than wait?
I know most of us including myself will be holding onto my coins for years to come, and be looking at ICO’s and buying more, but as far as the worlds retailers and governments adapting to it, I can understand why it would take them so long to adapt with suck a volatile market and unpredictable extreme price swings.
So we will have to wait and see how comfortable the world is with trusting this new currency. I would personally keep my coin rather than spend it, let me know what you would do in he comment section.