Let’s explore why crypto can no longer be ignored and some of the most common reasons why crypto like Bitcoin is an opportunity not to be missed.

Why crypto? Let’s begin

The world and particularly governments have been trying to ignore cryptocurrencies for the last decade. Increasingly, crypto is winning the battle for adoption and survival and is becomingly well-known and used around the world.

No longer just confined to the limitations of a digital currency (which Bitcoin is), there are now 5,000+ cryptocurrencies with a myriad of use cases. The future is bright and crypto can no longer be ignored.

A brief history of cryptocurrencies

From 2008 onwards, we saw the launch of Bitcoin and the start of the cryptocurrency revolution:

• August 2008 – The domain name https://bitcoin.org/ is registered
• October 2008 – Satoshi Nakamoto releases a paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-peer Electronic Cash System”
• January 2009 – The first transaction on Bitcoin occurs where computer programmer Hal Finney is paid ten bitcoins by Satoshi Nakamoto
• February 2010 – The first real-life transaction occurs. Two Papa John Pizzas are bought for 10,000 Bitcoins by Bitcoin miner Laszlo Hanyecz! At today’s valuation, those pizzas cost 606 million dollars! Check today’s valuation for Bitcoin at Coindesk
• October 2012 – Coinbase is launched, today this is one of the most well-recognised cryptocurrency exchanges and has over seventy-three million registered users
• August 2014 – Microsoft enable Bitcoin transactions for their apps, games and other digital content
• July 2015 – Ethereum launches on 30^th July, 2015 – this is now the second largest cryptocurrency
• March 2017 – For the first time, one Bitcoin is now worth more than 1oz of gold
• May 2017 – There are now over 1,000 cryptocurrencies trading
• January to November 2018 – The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies fell over $700billion to an aggregate value of $139billion. This shows the volatility of cryptocurrencies, which have well and truly bounced back since – Source: CNBC
• June 2019 – Facebook announces the future launch of their Libra digital currency and supporting Calibra digital wallet (this has subsequently been rebranded as Novi)
• July 2020 – Ethereum becomes the most-used blockchain, with the $ value exceeding that traded on Bitcoin
• September 2021 – El Salvador becomes the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender
• November 2021 – There are now 5,000+ cryptocurrencies trading with a total market capitalisation of $3,049 billion – Source: Statista

Cryptocurrencies have an exciting future ahead

We have told you about the past, but we know what you are thinking (”what about the future”), here we focus on the exciting future ahead for cryptocurrencies. So let’s take a look at some of the opportunities ahead for crypto.

These are just a few examples of the commercial uses of cryptocurrencies. We could have listed hundreds of uses! Brands like these prove cryptocurrencies are here for the long-term:

• Auctioneers – brands like Christies, Phillips, Sothebys, and others are accepting cryptocurrencies for various auctions
• Auto manufacturing – In February 2021, Tesla announced they had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and also said it will be accepting Bitcoin as payment for its products
• Banking – Megabanks JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs all introduced cryptocurrency-related trading services in 2021. Dozens of other banks have too!
• Online payments – PayPal, the largest online global payment service has historically bought cryptocurrency and enables crypto payments to be made to 30 million+ merchants through the PayPal application. In addition, cryptocurrency can be bought through PayPal and held in a wallet
• Travel – Cheapair, Destinia and Travala amongst dozens of other travel sector companies are accepting cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for flights, accommodation and package holidays