With crypto’s continuing popularity, many businesses are taking notice. Click here to find out how
some of the biggest organisations are embracing crypto.
https://unsplash.com/photos/fsSGgTBoX9Y
When the first Bitcoin whitepaper was released back in January 2009, no-one could have predicted
how far the industry would go.
With the price of Bitcoin worth $0 when it went live, 14 years later it is now worth $26,760. When
considering its previous peak was $67,620 back in 2021, it’s clear that the concept of cryptocurrency
is more than just the blip it was thought to be right at the very beginning.
Crypto Integration
The most interesting thing about cryptocurrency right now, however, is not the price surge, but the
amount of industries that are starting to take advantage.
Even five or so years after Bitcoin – and other popular altcoins – took off, many businesses and
organisations were still hesitant to get involved. For them, cryptocurrency was a strange – perhaps
even dangerous – pastime that had no real merit in the real world.
After all, people have been using fiat currency for hundreds of years, and it would surely take more
than a volatile, decentralised coin to take over.
But in 2023, hundreds of businesses across the world are not only starting to embrace crypto, but
integrate it officially into their own practices. With this in mind, let’s look at a couple of examples:
The iGaming Industry
With the iGaming market surpassing $65.5 billion, it is now considered one of the fastest growing
industries in the world, with an expected CAGR of 11.7% between now and 2030.
Despite all the odds, crypto is now a big part of that industry, with a number of players able to visit
Bitcoin casinos that offer crypto as a legitimate method of payment. In many ways, this should have
been expected.
The iGaming industry prides itself on speed, convenience, and security – all of which are the three
key traits of the crypto industry. In Bitcoin casinos, players are able to accelerate that speed and
convenience, with instant payouts, fast transactions, low fees, and complete security and anonymity.
It’s not just Bitcoin that is being utilised, either. The biggest crypto casinos also leverage altcoins
such as Ethereum, XRP, Cardano, and even Dogecoin.
The Creative Industry
We could talk a lot about the businesses accepting crypto as a legitimate payment method, but
there are many other facets of crypto that are just as exciting.
NFTs, for instance, are really starting to change up the creative landscape. It has long been difficult
for designers and artists to establish ownership of their work and set the terms of sale, but NFTs
have given creators more control over their work and how it is monetised and distributed.
For those unaware, NFTs are “non-fungible tokens”, meaning there is only one of them in existence
– a BTC can be traded in for another BTC, but an NFT can never be traded for exactly the same
token.
For artists, designers, and any kind of original creator, this allows them to get fair compensation for
their work, as it is up to them and the future buyers to determine its worth. The fashion industry,
especially, has latched onto the concept.
With VR and the Metaverse similarly rising out of the concept of blockchain, many new fashion
pieces are released solely as NFTs, taking the form of digital avatars that are unique to the buyer.
How Far Could Crypto Integration Go?
With a number of the biggest organisations in the world now implicating crypto into their practices –
including Starbucks, Tesla, Twitch, and Gucci – it’s looking like this is a development that will only
build, rather than fade away.
The metaverse, for instance, is inevitably going to affect thousands of businesses, as more
consumers look to make most of their purchases online with the ability to efficiently interact with
companies as they would in the flesh. Having said that, crypto is still not as big as it could be. Despite
a surge back in 2021, the crypto landscape has found itself in another winter, where prices have
dropped across the board and plenty of investors are jumping ship.
It seems, in this way, that the only thing that could kill crypto’s progression is crypto itself. Add to
that the traditional financial institutions that still refute the idea of decentralised currency, and there
are plenty of pitfalls that become more evident the more you start to think about it.
But with users still excited about the concept, and more businesses embracing it with open arms, the
appetite for cryptocurrency still seems strong. So long as that appetite remains, crypto has an
exciting future – it’s just not a future that anyone can guess just yet!
