Crypto assets like the Bitcoin, altcoins such as Ethereum, stablecoins and non-fungible tokens share one objective: to be be part of the global mainstream financial system.
But ideas such as anonymity, decentralization and the lack of clear framework that allow the digital asset class to be easily associated with illicit activities continue to slow down the process for wider acceptance and more usage of digital currencies.
In fact, according to data from Chainalysis, after reaching its all-time high (ATH) in the second quarter of 2021, global adoption of cryptocurrency fell during the third quarter of that same year as prices plummeted.
However, during the last three months of 2021, adoption statistics went back up courtesy of a massive rally that saw many digital currencies hit their own ATHs.
Meanwhile, over the last two quarters of 2022, there was noticeable decrease in acceptance and usage-related numbers as the market entered a bearish cycle.
This indicated that digital currency assets still have a lot of work to do to reach that certain level of adoption they’ve all been wanting, a sentiment that is recently re-echoed by Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach.
Miebach Believes Crypto Will Be Mainstream, But…
The Chief Executive Officer of the second largest payment processing corporation worldwide was recently interviewed and had the chance to share his thoughts about the future of cryptocurrencies.
“I think it’s a long way to go before crypto becomes mainstream,” said Miebach adding the particular asset class’s popularity will increase and thus will become more attractive if more appropriate regulations covering it are already in place.
The Mastercard CEO pointed out that there is a significant increase in number of large investors that are willing to put money on digital currencies but are discouraged because of lack of comprehensive rules.
This makes prospective investors clueless as to how they can safely enter the space and how they can protect their assets especially that the industry is ravaged by news of cyber attacks from time to time.
For their part, the payments company has exerted efforts to allow easier access to digital currency assets for their clients. Just recently, Mastercard partnered with Binance to make purchases of NFTs as easy as buying a coffee.
Emerging Markets Dominate Global Adoption Index
In a report released by Chainalysis, it was revealed that the U.S. ranked only 5th in the top 20 countries for global crypto adoption.
Three Asian nations, Vietnam (1st), Philippines (2nd) and India (4th) and Ukraine (3rd), rounded up the top-five list while Pakistan, Brazil, Thailand, Russia and China made it to top 10.
Of the 20 countries ranked by the analytics firm, there were 10 nations under the category of lower middle income while eight belong to the upper middle income bracket. The United States and United Kingdom are the only two countries classified as high-income territories.
Meanwhile, among major victories scored by cryptocurrencies in its attempt for greater mass adoption is Bitcoin being declared as legal tender in El Salvador and Tron crypto assets attaining the same status in the Commonwealth of Dominica.