Traditional Markets Fear of Cryptocurrency

Traditional markets seem to somewhat fear cryptocurrency as the next big thing to take over the world. And as it may be their fear is not allowing cryptocurrency to be used to its full potential. With more investors vying for the digital currency, the traditional market, now in its panic mode, is looking at ways to hurdle its growth and reach. Financial institutions so haven’t been able to regulate the crypto market.

Experts say cryptocurrency is techno-related. And there are legal, economic and social factors associated with it. People who value fiat currency with all their life argue that technology is never the same. Innovation happens again and again. And the same is with cryptocurrency. While the value of fiat currency goes up and down in the world market, the consumers still value it. Because its worth every penny. According to a research paper by the Imperial College London, the regulations being defined and implemented and governance around cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) vary greatly across different nations. It gives an example, “Switzerland, Gibraltar, and Australia has taken a proactive and positive approach towards ICOs; Japan has legitimized Bitcoin, declaring it a legal currency, but China, on the other hand, being a hardliner has banned ICOs and cryptocurrency trading in 2017.” Moreover, cryptocurrencies have also been referred to as a Ponzi scheme, while fiat currency is perceived as wealth.

Now, as countries eye cryptocurrencies to bypass US sanctions, the world superpower is telling regulators to step up and even alleging that terrorist outfits are using cryptocurrencies to fund their terror activities. Experts point at Japanese regulators actively discouraging cryptocurrency exchanges from listing high privacy coins such as Monero, Dash and zCash. Other experts point out that fiat currency and cryptocurrency are in no way comparable to each other. While fiat is cold hard cash, crypto is digital. And it can only be compared if cryptocurrency, like fiat, is used in daily, day-to-day transactions. Retailers and merchants are now accepting cryptocurrency, but it has been more wide-scale. Similar to the way, governments are looking at adopting cryptocurrencies for cross-border settlements as they no longer want to rely on the US dollar. Another interesting point is that like every country has its own fiat currency, such as the dollar or yen or the rial, they can also have their own cryptocurrency, like Venezuela’s Petro.

The world needs to give cryptocurrency a chance to flourish. It cannot be pushed aside without its full potential realized.