Despite leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin falling to a 13-month low, taking rival tokens Ether, Litecoin and XRP down with it, optimism remains over the long-term inevitability of widespread adoption of these digital currencies. New San Francisco and Singapore-based hedge fund Circuit Capital is betting on an upcoming “bull run” driven by growth in adoption and institutional infrastructure—based on data they’ve gathered that supports their claim.
Undeterred by the market’s current sentiment, innovators such as NetCents Technology Inc. (CSE: NC) (OTC: NTTCF), HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V: HIVE) (OTC: HVBTF), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) continue to make significant advancements that will lead to further adoption in the near future.
According to Circuit Capital, the fall in bitcoin price over the last 10 months has obscured the growing use of cryptocurrencies among consumers and investors.
Amid the flurry of activity in the market, mainstream adoption is continuing to rise. Chinese payments are currently dominated by apps such as WeChat and Alipay, along with QR readers and other methods that are more appealing than cards or cash—and there’s no restriction to younger tech-savvy users, as it reaches all age groups.
In North America, ease-of-use is growing also, with payment processors such as Square recently testing out the bitcoin waters.
Meanwhile, innovators at NetCents are bridging the gap between consumers and merchants with their own low-cost, secure platform that includes a proprietary cryptocurrency credit card that pulls directly from the user’s NetCents wallet. The unique credit card can be used anywhere that Visa or MasterCard are accepted, opening up the world of cryptocurrency users to millions of merchant locations around the world.
New opportunities for adoptions such as this only stand to further assert Circuit Capital’s predictions that widespread use of cryptocurrencies is about to explode. Now that big names like IBM and JPMorgan are throwing in their hats to make blockchain-based transactions more mainstream, the floodgates of users will likely soon be opened.
ADOPTION UP, DESPITE PRICES GOING DOWN
A breakdown of the recent decline by Fortune Magazine attributes recent activities to three factors—none of which are lack of adoption. Instead, the finger is being pointed at regulatory disputes, Bitcoin Cash’s fork, and bad news from chip-makers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.
Some combination of all three factors is likely the culprit for the downtown, all of which could be considered shocks. But, markets tend to recover from shocks.
The decline in cryptocurrency prices, does represent an opportunity for new users to buy in low, thus further increasing the population of wallets in use.
APPEASING MERCHANTS AND CONSUMERS ALIKE
Economic forecasters expect this year’s holiday spending to increase a whopping 3.2% over 2017, as consumer confidence is riding high. How consumers spend on the season may be different this year than others, as online spending is expected to rise in the US by 14.8% this holiday season to $124.1 billion.
Merchants both large and small will be clamoring for their piece of the online spending pie. However, the security of those purchases is being improved along the way, thanks to blockchain and cryptocurrency-based developments.
Built to eliminate volatility of transactions and increase both merchant and user adoption, NetCents Technology Inc. (CSE: NC) (OTC: NTTCF) has addressed the $228 billion payment processing market effectively with its crypto-based platform.
Designed to become the transaction hub for ALL cryptocurrency payments, NetCents is making strides as a potential market leader through its ease-of-use, and appealing features that please both merchants and consumers alike. Merchants have so far been slow to adopt cryptocurrency as a method of payment, leaving cryptocurrency holders with limited places to spend their tokens.
For merchants, NetCents provides several appealing selling points, including low transaction fees (delivering a saves of 3-9% per transaction), instant settlements, and the ability to accept fiat, credit card, and/or cryptocurrencies equally. On average, a low-risk merchant typically faces a merchant fee between 3.5% to 5.5%, whereas a higher-risk merchant gets hit with a rate of 5.0% to 10.0%. NetCents’s merchant fee is only 1.99%—a savings of between 1.5% to 7.0% per transaction.
But where NetCents excels most of all is in cryptocurrency transactions. Present cryptocurrency payment fees are currently prohibitive for millions of the world’s small merchants. When it comes to the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin (BTC), the transfer cost between the user and the merchant is extremely high.
For example, a product costing $100 that’s bought with BTC can result in a transaction fee to the user of 28%—an entirely unsuitable fee for small payments. That same transaction through NetCents will only cost the user 2.25%—that’s a savings of 25.75%, leading to a no-brainer decision by both parties.
NetCents helps to remove the apprehension to accept cryptocurrency purchases. A NetCents cryptocurrency transaction is now less than the 3.5% charge even a low-risk merchant receives.
For consumers, the merchant need not even subscribe to the platform, as NetCents provides a proprietary cryptocurrency credit card that can be used anywhere Visa or MasterCard are accepted—ie. everywhere. NetCents users can use their NetCents wallet to hold multiple cryptocurrencies (including the company’s own asset-backed cryptocurrency called NCCO).
NetCents Technology offers merchants, partners, and users an entire cryptocurrency ecosystem by providing full payment integration, instant settlements, and security while giving users access to over 40 million merchants worldwide—all which can help to increase adoption of cryptocurrency within the mainstream.
CRYPTO’S GROWING MAINSTREAM APPEAL
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V: HIVE) (OTC: HVBTF)
Since going public in September 2017, HIVE has evolved into a fully operational blockchain infrastructure company operating GPU and ASIC mining capacity. The company’s ASIC mining capacity began operations on September 30, 2018. Strategically partnered with Genesis Mining Ltd. to build next generational blockchain infrastructure. HIVE’s state-of-the-art GPU-based digital mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden produce newly-minted digital currencies like Ethereum, continuously as well as ASIC-based capacity which produce newly minted digital currencies like Bitcoin.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM)
IBM is targeting enterprise with blockchain technology, and is bringing several solutions for businesses small and large. Their focus has been on the democratic applications of blockchain, allowing users to create networks, determine governance rules, invite network members and validate transactions. IBM has offered Hyperledger, its open source collaboration to improve blockchain access across all industries. More than 130 members spanning industries including finance, manufacturing and technology are working to create an open and standardized distributed ledger framework.
Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ)
CEO Jack Dorsey has described blockchain as “the next big unlock”. However, Dorsey’s other prominent company Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) isn’t looking to incorporate blockchain in the immediate future. In the meantime, Square is primed to have a first-mover advantage in the bitcoin marketplace sector. Square recently jumped into bitcoin in November, gaining 2% upon reports the company testing a bitcoin marketplace in its Square Cash app. The advantage for Square is from the fees that can be generated from people buying and selling cryptocurrency.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)
While CEO Jamie Dimon has publicly bashed bitcoin, calling it a “fraud”, his company has seized upon the potential for blockchain. JPM recently launched a new payment processing network that uses blockchain in collaboration with Royal Bank of Canada, and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. JPMorgan has invested millions into its blockchain offering, Quorum, which it hopes will simplify its processes, and lower costs. The hope is that international money transfers will reach their beneficiaries much quicker and more secure when using blockchain, than traditional means.
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