Challenge 4 | The Future of Cryptocurrency | Symbiosis is the Key

^{Crypto-Fiat Symbiosis | (https://pixabay.com/photos/cryptocurrency-financial-concept-3409655)}

Cryptocurrencies were initially introduced to find an alternative for centralized fiat currencies. However, with the release of Ethereum, the capabilities of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain space simply grew.

With these crypto projects penetrating different spheres of our daily life, it is now clear that these digital assets will play a crucial role in shaping the future of this world. In this post, we will have a look at what the potential mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Infrastructure:

One of the main problems that hinder crypto and blockchain penetration in mainstream systems is the lack of infrastructure here in developing countries like India. For many years, the cost to access the internet was very high. This hindered the digital movement in the nation.

This all changed when Reliance Jio came up with aggressive broadband plans which resulted in the competitors also lowering the price to access the internet. Due to the impact, Jio had on the internet market, India has become one of the regions that offer cheap internet.

^{Average monthly broadband costs in India for 200Mbps speed is $20. This is decreasing rapidly thanks to Jio | src}

Internet access to the masses is essential to allow people to use digital assets like cryptocurrencies. However, this also acts as a medium that people can use to educate themselves about the growing crypto world.

Education:

A recent survey by HSBC bank found out that more than 59% of the people who participated did not know what blockchain is. src
This is alarming cause crypto and blockchain have been around for over a decade now. So, it is high time that people get educated.

Now that the infrastructure is slowly getting better every day, the next step is to ensure that people are educated about cryptocurrencies and the benefits of the numerous crypto projects. Centralized e-wallets such as Paytm(A very popular e-wallet in India) made use of aggressive advertising to achieve this a few years ago.

Crypto projects might not have to be so aggressive when it comes to marketing. We already have platforms such as steemit and hive which are built on blockchains. The wealth of knowledge that one can acquire from these platforms alone can help one understand the crypto world better.

With the curation system in place, it is very easy for new readers to find quality posts on the platform. So, one can be assured of reading valid content that would definitely help him understand the platform better.

Additionally, using a platform like steemit to write articles will also give people first-hand experience with respect to blockchain technology. Apart from steemit, Binance has also started educative programs that are accessible to people around the world(except the USA).

Binance acquired Coinmarkcap and started Coinmarketcap learn to program using which you can learn about a crypto project and also earn some crypto by completing the quiz in the end. So, at the end of the day, you will not only get to learn about a new project but also get some cryptocurrencies that you can use to understand the project better.

No one would blindly start using cryptocurrencies. So, these platforms that help to impart knowledge will play a major role in shaping the future of the crypto world.

Now that we have covered the two main requirements for the mainstream adoption of crypto, let us have a look at some ways to kickstart the mass adoption of crypto in the nation.

Crypto penetration into the mainstream world:

It would take several years if not decades for a new system to overtake the existing one. Not everyone in this world likes change. However, cryptocurrencies need to penetrate the mainstream world to achieve mass adoption.

A Kickstarter to this would be if the existing trusted systems start integrating various crypto projects. Take for example Paytm. We can now invest in mutual funds as well as digital gold on this platform.

If an option to buy Bitcoin was added to it, I’m sure that the majority of the population would start using it. Currently, with Covid running havoc in India, the boom of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart have been unreal.

^{Buying regional giftcards from Bitrefill is extremely easy}

These platforms accept fiat as a payment method. If cryptocurrencies were added to this mix, then many people would definitely use this method as well. Currently, we can still use cryptocurrencies to buy products on e-commerce websites. However, this involves buying gift cards on platforms such as bitpay or bitrefill which can then be redeemed on e-commerce websites.

One of the major opposition to cryptocurrencies is from the government itself. The fear of cryptocurrencies taking over centralized fiat currency has by itself got the government worried. This is why it is nearly impossible for cryptocurrencies to replace fiat in this world.

Instead, we need to find a way for both these assets to co-exist.

Crypto-Fiat Symbiosis:

^{Unocoin | India's first crypto broker | src}

A few years ago, a few offline merchants had started to accept cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment. This had been made possible by an Indian crypto startup called Unocoin. Unocoin had a merchant app on which merchants could signup and start accepting crypto payments from users.

If the customer was also using the same wallet service i.e. Unocoin, then the mining charges were also nil. The main worry for the merchants was the volatility of cryptocurrencies. This is why Unocoin had implemented an option within the merchant app to solve this problem.
If the merchant was worried about the volatility, then a simple toggle button in the app would convert crypto to fiat and deposit in the merchant’s bank account immediately.

After the nationwide crypto ban, this system has become endangered. If a trusted platform like Paytm could bring this service, then it would certainly stir a crypto revolution in the country.
Several Crypto Projects Solve the Problem:
We live in the information age where data is power. Centralized platforms such as Google, Facebook, etc have used your own data to generate enormous revenues. This is your privacy which is being abused.

Crypto projects ensure user privacy. Take for example the BAT project. One of the main products of this project is the brave browser. This is a privacy-oriented browser that protects your data while you surf the web online. The best part is that this is a chromium-based browser. So, all features that you see on Google chrome are also present on this with the added benefit of ad-blocking built-in.

Centralized platforms such as Youtube, etc have also abused their powers by not paying several deserving content creators. Additionally, things have gotten even harder for ner Youtubers to make an impact. With the new policies in place, it’s nearly impossible for new Youtubers to make it big.

Luckily the crypto world has a solution for this. With platforms such as dtube, we can now get equal opportunity to earn while doing what we love the most.

If you are looking for a lending service, then the crypto world has several projects such as the Lend protocol, etc that offer similar services with a better interest rate. So, in short, we have reached a point where we have a decentralized solution for every centralized system.

Conclusion:

The movement towards decentralized crypto projects has already started. Countries such as Sweden and Japan have already embraced the crypto space. Paypal which is one of the most popular e-wallets has also started to offer Bitcoin. The only thing that is stopping the mass adoption is the infrastructure itself.

If millions of people hop on to the decentralized network at once, the network would not be able to handle the tremendous load(At least existing Bitcoin and Ethereum networks can’t). However, various developments are underway to achieve exactly that.

So, once we have everything in place, this crypto movement is going to change the entire world forever.

Cc:-
@steemitblog
@steemcurator01
@steemcurator02

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