Google’s advertising ban on cryptos has officially been lifted. As of August 3, the tech giant will allow companies in the crypto space to advertise on its search engine and sites that are a part of its platform.
Google had already updated its advertising policy in June, to take effect in August. According to Google, “as of August 3, advertisers offering brokerages and cryptocurrency wallets aimed at the US can advertise these products and services”.
Policy Changes for New Crypto Regulation
With the revocation of the ad ban, Google has prescribed specific requirements that need to be upheld by advertisers. Google told Bloomberg in June that the change was made to comply with new US Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) regulations.
Google will now allow #Bitcoin advertising for wallets and exchanges, starting today!
About time! đ
— Bitcoin Archive đđđ (@BTC_Archive) August 3, 2021
The new policy will apply globally to Google Search and its third-party sites including YouTube, Gmail and Blogger.
Coinbase now appears as the top result when users search for the term âbitcoinâ in the US, an exchange entry appearing with the recommendation to âbuy and sell bitcoin at Coinbaseâ.
What Does This Mean for Crypto?
Bitcoin itself does not have a marketing budget, relying instead on the crypto grapevine or companies that provide bitcoin services to do the marketing.
The end of Google’s ban could lead to increased exposure for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by allowing companies to re-advertise.
Twitter, Facebook and Google prohibit the advertisement of initial coin offerings but allow exchanges or wallet services provided by a publicly traded crypto company to advertise with them, as long as they comply with local laws.
As Google has relaxed its advertising policy, other major advertisers might follow suit.
The change in Googleâs attitude is very positive for the cryptocurrency market, which has faced regulatory uncertainty around the world. Being allowed on the Google ad network will obviously ensure bitcoin reaches a larger number of potential users.
ETH is on the move again as it climbs steadily back up towards the $3,000 mark in its longest ever continuous winning streak. According to data from Coinbase, it is up over 43 percent, achieving daily price gains over the past 12 days straight.
ETH daily chart. Source: TradingView
This price gain is leading up to the ETH London Hard Fork which will happen on Aug 5. The upgrade has been long-awaited and highly anticipated following April 15’s Berlin hard fork, which at the time pushed the price of ETH to its all-time high.
The London upgrade is meant to complement the Ethereum 2.0 transition that will change Ethereum from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model. This may see ether becoming a store-of-value as it moves to become a deflationary asset, like Bitcoin.
#Ethereum has notched a 12-day winning streak, the longest ever
The IOMAP indicator reveals that $ETH is sitting on strong support while facing the last 2 key levels of on-chain resistance on its path to $3k once again
A fortune in Ethereum valued at over half a billion dollars is on the move as crypto whales relocate their bags of ETH. On July 30, blockchain tracker Whale Alert sighted a series of massive transactions in which large Ethereum holders moved 237,419 ETH in just over 10 hours.
Ether trading volumes have been higher than Bitcoin in the first half of this year as institutions invest heavily. Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap with a current trading volume of over US$300 billion.
For now, HODLers are enjoying the ride:
Starting to get a bit worried, my eth has been up for 12 days and doesn't appear to be going down.
The funds will help defray production costs for the first feature-length documentary about Ethereum, which includes interviews with creator Vitalik Buterin. It has a cool NFT movie poster too:
excited to share my latest work, one of the first movie posters as an NFT- for none other than the first feature-length, crowdfunded (@viamirror) documentary on Ethereum. @EthereumFilm
According to an on-chain market size report by Crypto.com, the number of people involved in crypto has doubled in the first half of this calendar year, reaching over 220 million users by the end of June.
The data compiled by Crypto.com pulled figures from 24 of the largest crypto platforms.
100 Million to 200 Million in Six Months
User numbers doubled in just six months as crypto fever spilled into the mainstream, with the market green across the board and meme coins at the height of their popularity.
From February to May, cryptomania saw the number of users surge to a record 203 million, up from 106 million. In comparison, it took nine months for the user base to reach 100 million (from 65 million).
The growth we have seen in the first half of 2021 on our platform and industry-wide is very encouraging, and we will continue investing heavily as we pursue our goal of putting cryptocurrency in every wallet.
Approximately 3.3 million Australians own cryptocurrencies according to a recent report, with this number expected to double into 2022. The growth of blockchain technology has allowed for the development of new coins, each providing a unique utility or value. Letâs take a look at the most popular cryptocurrencies (also known as âaltcoinsâ) for Australia this year.
For a coin to make this list we have used our website crypto news data, which includes page views on crypto information pages, crypto news landing pages, website search data and news frequency data. We have excluded Bitcoin (BTC) from the list as itâs not considered an altcoin.
Disclaimer: Before you continue reading, please note that these coins are listed as data only and should not be taken as a recommendation to buy and not investment advice. The data is provided for educational and informational purposes only. PLEASE NOTE: The most popular altcoins do not mean they are the best altcoins to buy.
Most Popular Altcoins in Australia 2021
1. Ripple (XRP)
2. Cardano (ADA)
3. Chainlink (LINK)
4. Dogecoin (DOGE)
5. Ethereum (ETH)
6. Theta (THETA)
7. Wink (WIN)
8. Tron (TRX)
8. Uniswap (UNI)
9. Shiba Inu (SHIB)
10. BitTorrent (BTT)
Data Analysis
Crypto Information Pages
The 2021 website page views indicate that Ripple XRP is one of the most popular digital assets in Australia with 9% of the total relative crypto page views. XRP is the native token used on the XRP ledger used primarily as a method of payment on the ledger. This was closely followed by BTC and ETH and newcomer SHIB. THETA has the longest page view duration at 4 minutes 42 seconds.
Crypto Info Page Views in Australia 2021 Table
Crypto News Landing Pages
If we also take a look at the crypto news landing page views, we can see Ripple XRP leading the way by a fair margin with 33.03% of the total news landing page views. Itâs followed (not closely) by ADA with 7.71%, LINK with 7.61%, then (surprisingly) by Wink WIN token at 7.21%. Other notables in this list are Bittorrent BTT, Dent DENT and Digibyte DGB. LINK has the longest page view duration by a mile at 3 minutes 46 seconds.
Crypto News Landing Page Views in Australia 2021 Table
Crypto Search Data
Taking a look at the website searches for cryptos we can see XRP also leading this data with 5.87% of the total searches. Other notables are Wink WIN with 2.51%, ADA with 1.91%, and both Monetha MTH and RAMP with 1.76%.
Crypto Search Volume Australia 2021 Table
News Frequency Data
Searching for unique news articles and for the symbol and name, for symbols the variations â ETH â, âETH)â and âETH.â were used to arrive at a total. Itâs also worth mentioning that coins like âRippleâ and âPolygonâ are regular words which may skew the frequencies. The same applies to coin symbols such as âUNIâ and âLINKâ.
From the news mention data, we can see the clear altcoin winner is ETH, and then the pack follows with XRP, LTC and BCH.
Cryptocurrency
News Mentions (Name)
News Mentions (Symbol)
Bitcoin (BTC)
39,185
24,210
Ethereum (ETH)
18,045
9,680
Ripple (XRP)
3,508
3,813
Litecoin (LTC)
2,970
1,453
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
2,447
2,215
Uniswap (UNI)
2,317
558
Chainlink (LINK)
2,193
3,204
Dogecoin (DOGE)
2,155
2,388
Cardano (ADA)
2,003
2,176
Polkadot (DOT)
1,695
1,652
Stellar (XLM)
1,078
659
Binance Coin (BNB)
1,053
1,366
TRON (TRX)
725
592
Bitcoin SV (BSV)
570
623
Solana (SOL)
446
179
THETA (THETA)
218
218
SHIBA INU (SHIB)
294
60
Chiliz (CHZ)
133
97
Altcoin News Frequency Volume Australia 2021 Table
Conclusions
From the data we can draw the conclusion that Ripple XRP is the most popular digital currency in Australia. Obviously, this is based on a small subset of data and doesnât include factors such as social media, buy and sell trading volumes, market capitalization, and the crypto market industry. The decentralized finance space is continuing to evolve and we will likely see more altcoins competing for the top spot as time goes on. Â
If youâre looking to get started with crypto assets, then you can check out these guides to help:
Australian millionaires are popping up all over the place and it’s mostly thanks to Bitcoin. The king of cryptocurrency has been around for over 10 years now, and recently we have seen a growing number of savvy investors who have transformed themselves into self-made millionaires.
Disclaimer: Before you continue reading, this is a list of publicly available information collated to you for free entertainment purposes. Unless stated, we do not have any proof that these people made millions from Bitcoin so if you think any information is wrong, please let us know. Crypto News also has tried to make contact with everyone on the list to verify the details.
Now that institutions are hopping on the Bitcoin bandwagon, it’s the retail investors who are reaping the rewards from the best performing asset of all time. As the conservative go unconventional and alternative investments become mainstream, the Bitcoin millionaire phenomenon is growing at a sensational rate – who is next?
Here are some of the wealthy Australians who made their millions by investing in Bitcoin early: our list of 10 Australian BitcoinMillionaires.
Kain Warwick
Kain is a blockchain enthusiast and founder of Synthetix, a decentralised synthetic asset platform that supports multiple fiat currencies and commodities. Originally named Havven, it was a stablecoin project through an initial coin offering in February 2018. Havven rebranded itself to Synthetix in March 2020 and quickly became a prominent player in the decentralised finance market, with currently over $2 billion SNX marketcap. Before creating Synthetix, Warwick also co-founded Blueshyft – a cash payment gateway that supports over-the-counter Bitcoin purchases. He is an advisory council member of Blockchain Australia, promoting the adoption of blockchain technology in Australia. Back in the day, he was a tennis coach and also a touring musician with his band The Lie Society, based in Boston. Kain is from Sydney, where he now lives. According to realestate.com.au Warwick bought his parents a house for a whopping $12.2 million, and has over $34 million invested in other house deals. You can follow Warwick on Twitter: @kaiynne
Sergei Sergienko
Featured on 60 Minutes Australia “Crazy Rich”, Sergei Sergienko is a Russian-born self-declared Australian Bitcoin multimillionaire. He reckons he is worth a whopping $100 million! It is a dream come true, only possible thanks to the digital gold rush of Bitcoin, buying BTC from as low as $6, and Sergei has been accumulating and trading it ever since, taking his profits into the millions. According to the interview, Sergei took a punt when he secured a bank loan and invested into BTC. Being an early cryptocurrency pioneer has certainly paid off as Sergei continues to trade and invest in crypto and runs a handful of businesses. He is the founder and CEO of Chrono.tech, a global blockchain startup headquartered in Sydney; co-founder of MHC Digital Finance, a digital asset fund also based in Sydney; and the co-founder and director of Edway Group, one of Australiaâs biggest recruitment companies. You can follow Sergei Sergienko on Twitter: @svsergienko.
Mimi Ho
According to a Financial Review interview, 36-year-old Mimi Ho, from Brisbane, started investing nine years ago, initially as a hobby, although she was prepared to put some coin behind it. She began investing $10,000 into Bitcoin and some other major altcoins and has continued to use her profits to build the portfolio into seven-digit figures. When she started out, she was a part-owner of an IT company, but says she is now turning over more cash than when she was running the business. Ms Ho believes crypto is the way of the future and that it has been her best investment to date. In the past nine years, she has amassed almost $8 million. You can follow Mimi Ho’s trading on Etoro’s copy trading.
Chris OâShea
According to a Nine News interview, Chris OâShea is a âself-madeâ millennial millionaire who has accumulated a fortune of around $20 million. OâShea, 30, has totally transformed his life, initially investing $10,000 in 2013, much to the disbelief of friends and family who thought he’d gone mad. The former pub manager from Mount Druitt in Sydneyâs west now enjoys a lavish lifestyle driving Range Rovers and cruising luxury yachts; sounds like the lifestyle.
Daniel Maegaard
According to an interview with The Hustle, Daniel Maegaard, a 30-year-old from Brisbane, has made a crypto fortune – not once, but twice. First when he was only 22, as he speculated $4k into Bitcoin in 2013 when it was worth around $150 per coin. After learning more about it, he said he was certain Bitcoin’s scarcity would lead to it increasing in price. He caught the crypto bug and got into other altcoins such as Ripple early, and is now also making a fortune in NFTs. From just a few thousand dollars eight years ago, Daniel now claims to be a happy crypto self-made millionaire, with approximately $10 million to his name. You can follow Daniel Maegaard on Twitter: @seedphrase
Craig Wright
Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright is the man who claims to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Though this has been debunked pretty heavily, he is, however, a Bitcoin millionaire. Craig now lives in a big house in London and is continuing his infamous ongoing court battle over the Bitcoin whitepaper copyright ownership. He has yet to provide any verifiable evidence of his authorship of the original Satoshi whitepaper or collaboration with known early developers. He also refuses, or is unable, to provide the one piece of evidence that would prove his claim: you guessed it – the original Satoshi Nakamoto private key. If he is Satoshi, then he is sitting on a 1,000,000 BTC fortune.
Craig Cobb
Craig Cobb is an experienced trader based in Sydney, Australia who first got into crypto in 2017 after a mate told him he needed to check it out. He found there was a gap in the market for quality courses on trading, so started to offer courses on Udemy and later founded Trader Cobb to teach his personal technical trading strategies to others, specialising in checklist-based trading. According to Udemy, he has not only made himself a millionaire, but he has also helped many others become millionaires too. Craig has a podcast called The Trader Cobb Crypto Podcast and an excellent library of video training resources on his YouTube channel. Aside from trading, he loves to surf and is an active volunteer lifesaver, currently patrolling Tamarama beach in Sydney’s east. You can follow Craig Cobb on Twitter: @tradercobb
Sam Karagiozis
Sam Karagiozis’s knuckles famously bear the tattooed words “self made” because up until his 2019 incarceration, he was usually pictured with luxury cars; he owned a Lamborghini and a Bentley with personalised plates that read, “MR BTC”. Sam founded a Bitcoin ATM startup called Auscoin Group and attempted to start the digital currency for Australia, but it failed. He was arrested for allegedly importing more than 100 packages of drugs through the mail in 2016 and 2017. In 2019 he was granted bail and is now fighting to regain control over his chain of souvlaki stores and his Bitcoin empire. According to news.com.au, police allege he was the boss of the Melbourne drug ring that used the dark web and Bitcoin accounts to source, buy and distribute drugs as part of a multimillion-dollar importation operation.
Kingsley Advani
Kingsley Advani became a Bitcoin millionaire at age 24, back in 2017 when he sold all his worldly possessions and emptied thousands of dollars from his bank account to seek the once-in-a-lifetime returns potential of Bitcoin. According to a CEO Magazine article, Advani invested $34,000 into Bitcoin and other emerging blockchains. His net worth ballooned into seven figures within six months. Technically, Advani is British and not Australian, but he did study for a Bachelorâs degree in Finance and Economics at the University of Melbourne. You can follow Kingsley Advani on Twitter: @kadvani
Fred Schebesta
Fred Schebesta, 26, is one of the youngest Australian self-made millionaires, best known for co-founding the comparison website finder.com. While it’s not clear that his first millions were made in Bitcoin, he is a crypto evangelist, hosting a âdaily crypto talk showâ from the offices of Finder. In February 2018, he and co-founder Frank Restuccia launched an Over-The-Counter (OTC) crypto exchange called HiveX, which facilitates trades between $50k to $100 million. He is currently focused on creating the very first crypto bank in Australia and launching Finder Crypto Mobile App. You can follow Fred Schebesta on Twitter: @Schebesta
A recent survey by Fidelity Digital Assets, a multinational financial services corporation, has revealed that 70 percent of institutional investors are interested in buying cryptocurrencies.
Vast Majority Will Own Crypto by 2026
According to the survey, seven out of 10 respondents plan to buy digital assets in the near future and 96 percent of them aim to do so by 2026.
The survey ranged across investment banks, hedge funds, endowments, family offices, and financial advisers. Itâs worth noting that Fidelity is one of the first traditional financial services that embraced cryptocurrencies.
The message is clear – institutional adoption is growing, at least according to Fidelity’s last year survey. In 2020, the company found that only 36 percent of institutional investors would dare to invest in digital assets, and only 27 percent of US-based institutions had invested in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Covid-19 Outbreak Was the âCatalyst for Investorsâ
Tom Jessop, president of Fidelity, said the pandemic was the catalyst for many institutional investors to look out for alternative assets while the traditional market was collapsing.
The pandemic – and fiscal and monetary measures in response to it – has been a catalyst for many institutional investors to define their investment thesis and operationalise it.
Tom Jessop, president, Fidelity Digital Assets
A total of 1,100 institutional investors from across Asia, Europe and the US were surveyed. Interestingly, it appears that Asian investors had more exposure to the crypto market compared to North American and European institutions.
Yet some institutions remained sceptical, expressing fear of market manipulation and high volatility.
Corporate Crypto Conversion
As more institutions explore crypto and blockchain technology, it seems natural that clients would want insightful knowledge about the crypto market. According to a recent report, 26 percent of financial advisers would recommend cryptocurrencies to their clients in the next year.
Australians are leading the way when it comes to adoption. Earlier this year, Crypto News Australia reported that more than 5 million Aussies will own crypto by the end of 2021.
Additionally, 40 percent of millennials and 31 percent of Gen Zs favour digital assets over real estate, and the average Aussie crypto investor has 12.5 percent of total assets in crypto.
Champion surfer and environmentalist Kelly Slater has expressed an ambition to add a personalised cryptocurrency brand to his list of 11 world titles.
The 49-year-old American has long observed the progress of Bitcoin and Ethereum and says the prospect of hitching a crypto asset to his latest green project is his next challenge after 40 years at the sporting forefront.
Slater has been focusing his attention on a wood recycling company and hopes to link a crypto coin to his environmental endeavours.
Iâve started reaching out to people in the crypto world who make these things. Weâll see if thereâs something we can do thatâs a positive one, and not a fly-by-night coin where people are just trying to make a quick buck overnight.
Kelly Slater
The Florida native says he has a basic understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and their relationship to world economies.
I think itâs interesting to have a currency – a store of value – that isnât controlled by a CEO or a government. Itâs an exciting, rare time for people to do their investing themselves.
Dogecoin and Its Ilk “Need to Disappear”
Slater doesnât want his crypto to be a meme currency like Dogecoin, which âliterally has zero purpose for anyoneâ. In fact, he adds: âThose all need to disappear.â A new technology, he says, âshould have some kind of utility or protocol that makes a company or peopleâs lives betterâ.
The champion surfer would approve of Quebecois bitcoin mining company Bitfarms, which listed on NASDAQ last month and is committed to using green energy. More than 99 percent of the power it uses to run its operations comes from hydroelectric energy.
He’d also be happy to know that Ethereum 2.0 is greener and better for the environment – up to 99 percent more sustainable, according to some industry observers.
If you’re looking to use crypto while surfing the web, then checkout some of the cool cryptocurrency enabled browsers and apps to bring your dreams into reality.
These browsers support payments using your web browser, including buying and selling NFTs using DeFi protocols such as the Ethereum blockchain.
Brave Browser
Brave Browser is a free modern web browser very similar to Google Chrome but it has automatic ads blocking, and extra security features. Brave is also up to three times faster than Chrome and uses 35% less battery when used on mobile devices.
The Brave browser is crypto-enabled by default by supporting a native crypto wallet and in-house BAT token currency to reward you for using it.
CryptoTab Browser
CryptoTab Browser is the world’s first web browser with integrated crypto mining features. You can earn bitcoin by using it, searching, watching videos, chatting, or gaming online. Join the community of more than 20 million users all over the world already enjoying CryptoTab Browser.
Opera Browser
Opera Browser is a popular web browser on Apple Mac devices and now supports a built-in crypto wallet in Opera Touch on iOS and Opera for Android. The browser is also promoting Web3 technology which is an umbrella term for a set of emerging technologies intersecting cryptocurrencies, blockchains and distributed systems that, together, extend the capabilities of the web we all use today in important and meaningful ways.
MetaMask Extension
MetaMask Extension is a browser extension aimed to help you seamlessly connect with the cryptocurrency market places. This is one of the easiest gateways to the decentralized web enabling on-chain crypto payments. You can use it to send Ethereum, tokens, or collectibles anywhere, within seconds. And your digital private keys always stay safe in your pocket with MetaMask.
Crypto Browser App
Crypto Browser App is a mobile app which provides Blockchain, crypto news, charts and events from around the world. You can use the app to stay updated with the latest ICO and STO releases and coins trading information.
TokenPocket Wallet
TokenPocket Wallet is a multi-chain wallet that supports some of the main coins on the market, allowing you to buy, sell and trade them using your mobile device. It currently supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), EOS, TRON (TRX), IOST, Cosmos and Binance Coin (BNB).
With its powerful Web3 browser, you can interact with Decentralized Applications (DApp) and trade your ERC20 tokens, BTC and EOS in decentralized exchanges (DEX), play blockchain games directly inside the wallet. You can also get free airdrop, get your staking reward through some (PoS) mining pools and join the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) like MakerDAO.
MinerBlock Extension
MinerBlock Extension is a free browser extension that helps protect you against malicious script attacks where hackers use your web browser to mine cryptocurrency.
The extension uses two different approaches to block miners. The first one is based on blocking requests/scripts loaded from a blacklist, this is the traditional approach adopted by most ad-blockers and other mining blockers. The other approach which makes MinerBlock more efficient against cryptojacking is detecting potential mining behavior inside loaded scripts and kills them immediately.
Quicrypto App
Quicrypto App is a mobile app which offers a perfect solution for people who want to earn Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto without spending any money. You can earn free crypto in many unique ways including playing games and completing surveys.
Purse: Shop Browser App
Purse: Shop App is a browser extension which provides you with discounts when shopping on Amazon with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
The Purse: Shop button brings the power of the Purse.io marketplace directly to your Amazon shopping experience. While browsing products on Amazon simply click the Purse button, underneath the Amazon price, to add the item to your Purse list. When youâre ready to post your order using Bitcoin (or Bitcoin Cash), simply click the âFinalizeâ button in the Purse shop popup. Once we verify your order, an earner will purchase the items for you on Amazon and theyâll arrive right to your door.
Status.im App
Status.im App is a secure messaging app, crypto wallet, and Web3 browser built with state of the art technology. It’s similar to Telegram app but offers more crypto support to send, store and receive cryptocurrencies including ERC20 and ERC721 tokens. Only you hold the keys to your funds through Status’ intuitive design that protects you and your funds from attacks.
As Covid has changed our relationship with cash and dramatically reduced foot traffic in CBDs around the globe, street performers have had to find different ways to earn a living.
Economists at Melbourne university RMIT have found that passers-by often donate more when paying via digital platforms such as apps, QR codes, PayPal and even bitcoin, compared to the traditional payment method of loose coins thrown into a hat or guitar case.
Using data from online platform The Busking Project, the RMIT study analysed individual payments to over 3,500 active buskers from 121 countries, including Australia, to identify performers who were more receptive to online donations.
Melbourne Is Australia’s Busking Capital
Melbourne proved to be Australiaâs busking capital, with nearly a third of the country’s 263 active street performers based in its second-biggest city.
The study also found:
Circus performers received the biggest donations.
Musicians were most likely to receive donations but received smaller amounts than other types of artists.
The number of other onlookers influenced if and how much passers-by donated.
The artistâs location and social media profile also affected the level of donations.
Artists who joined the platform after the World Health Organization (WHO) announcement that Covid-19 was a pandemic in March 2020 were more likely to receive a donation, which ranged from A$1 to more than A$700 .
According to the study’s lead author, Dr Meg Elkins, street performers have a critical role to play as cities look to revitalise their CBDs in the wake of the pandemic.
Buskers performing in public for coin is a centuries-old practice but they have to move online as our society becomes increasingly cashless. We … wanted to uncover how they could use digital payment systems to increase their online earnings and create more sustainable careers.
Elkins, a senior lecturer in the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing at RMIT University and a member of its Behavioural Business Lab, says that artists have to become more entrepreneurial to survive.
âIn the future, we could see QR codes as part of street performance, which would simplify the payment process even further,â Elkins says. âMore than 40 QR code trials are already under way across Europe, the US and Australia.
Digital platforms can potentially allow street performers to generate more generous donations beyond cash tips. Theyâre also a way for artists to interact with supporters and build that all-important fan base, which can ultimately help sustain a career.
Dr Meg Elkins
Last year, Crypto News Australia foreshadowed increasing demand for digital wallets and cryptocurrency as Australia evolves towards a cashless society. Also in 2020, we reported how the pandemic had effectively halved cash payments in Australia as consumers continued to shift towards digital and contactless payment options.
After working with industry-leading companies such as BlockFi, Coinbase and Crypto.Com, Visa plans more partnerships to facilitate conversions across 70 million merchants worldwide.
Merchants wonât have to accept cryptocurrencies as such, as the network will convert crypto transactions into fiat. As reported in March, Visa expanded its MCO cards in Australia via a global alliance with Crypto.com.
Cardholders Will Have the Option to Pay with Stablecoins
Visa outlined the “developer-friendly” features of stablecoins and how the market for these has grown to US$100 billion: “Stablecoins are starting to live up to the promise of digital fiat: the developer-friendly characteristics of cryptocurrency combined with the reliability of fiat-backed reserves.”
In the future, we also plan to allow cardholders to pay their balances using stablecoins. We are also working on giving cardholders the option to select how they would like to earn their rewards from any cryptocurrency that we support on BlockFi.
Visa blog post
Visa continues to support the cryptocurrency ecosystem because it foresees a sizeable market with potential use cases. “Itâs clear that the crypto community sees value in linking digital currencies to Visaâs global network,” reads the blog post.
Visa Moves to Alleviate Cryptocurrency Concerns
However, Visa has faced numerous inquiries and concerns from investors and regulators about the perceived risks of digital assets. To alleviate these concerns, the payments giant has engaged with policymakers and global organisations to help promote a better concept of cryptocurrencies.
We are doing a lot to create an ecosystem that makes cryptocurrency more usable and more like any other currency. People are exploring ways in which they can use cryptocurrencies for things they would use normal currencies for. There are lots of issues in terms of volatility, etcetera. But thatâs up to the owners of cryptocurrencies to manage and track.
Vasant Prabhu, chief financial officer, Visa
While it is bullish to help spread further adoption of cryptocurrencies, some in the DeFi and crypto community argue that a centralised institution holding and operating cryptoassets undermines the original ethos of crypto.
