Cryptocurrencies have been revolutionizing global financial markets and taking giant strides in terms of development and adoption. In spite of the market being engulfed by bearish market trends, the crypto space grew by a staggering 122% in 2018.
Renowned names in global commerce have time and again showed their support for bitcoins in particular, and cryptocurrencies at large. The entry of large corporations in the crypto market has further indicated that digital currencies have a bright future. Banking giant JPMorgan became the first bank in the United States to launch its own cryptocurrency. Even the social networking behemoth Facebook is about to launch a stablecoin, targeted towards cross-border payments.
Advocating for cryptocurrencies, billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper has urged the Argentine President Mauricio Macri to legalize cryptocurrencies in the country. Draper stated that cryptocurrencies have the potential to pull countries from adverse economic situations. The giant American investor and President Macri reportedly met on 20th March, to discuss economic development of the South American country.
Draper recommended the use of innovative technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrencies, to tackle economic problems of the Latin American nation during the meeting. He also suggested that the use of cryptocurrencies can be a possible solution for the declining value of the Argentine Peso.
While briefing journalists about the meeting, Draper said that he had proposed a bet to the President, according to which, he would double his investment in the country if Argentine Peso were valued more than Bitcoin. On the flip side, he has asked the President to declare Bitcoin as the national currency if the cryptocurrency continues to beat the Peso. He also stated that the Bitcoin seriously lacks confidence in the country, which has held the government from legalizing cryptocurrencies.
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Further, Draper went on to claim that Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain were greater than the internet itself. He strongly believes that the adoption of these two innovative instruments in Argentina will revolutionize the country’s banking and financial sectors.
Claims made by Draper, though sound too optimistic, are backed by a few real-life examples. For instance, adoption of cryptocurrencies played a huge part in the recovery of Venezuela from the country’s worst crisis ever. As inflation rates skyrocketed, the government encouraged the use of digital tokens to bring much-needed stability. Citizen started mining bitcoins and other digital tokens, which earned them a few US dollars, letting them to buy daily essentials.
Draper has been a strong advocate of Bitcoin, and has time and again predicted the bullish market for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. He has predicted that Bitcoin will be valued over a mammoth $250,000 apiece as early 2022-2023, accounting for 5% of all global markets. He argues that as people realize the true potential of Bitcoin and are able to use it, they will choose the digital coin over fiat currencies like Peso and the US Dollar.
However, the major hurdle in adopting Bitcoin in day to day use has been its high price value, due to which using it as a daily instrument becomes extremely difficult. But on the other side, there is a possibility that governments could launch their own cryptocurrencies based on the Bitcoin protocol, which means digital coins which are backed by Bitcoin.
In fact, the use of cryptocurrencies in global payments has been on the rise recently, as platforms like VISA Inc. are now integrating blockchain with their operations to facilitate payments through digital currencies as well. Social media behemoth, Facebook is also launching its own cryptocurrency, a stablecoin, targeted towards cross-border payments.
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Countries like Russia, which have troubled relations with the US, are developing their own cryptocurrency, in a bid to reduce their dependence on the US dollar. Earlier in February, Draper also predicted that only criminals will use traditional currencies in the future.
