Crypto and blockchain industries desperately need a win in 2023

Reeling from high-profile failures in 2022, those seeking to promote blockchain as a major solution for financial industries need to demonstrate some success if they are to regain their momentum.

The crypto industry suffered some savage blows in 2022. A virulent combination of incompetence and malignity brought down first the Terra/Luna stablecoin ecosystem and then FTX, until recently the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The consequences for the cryptocurrency market cap have been devastating.

Optimists say that these events will serve to blow away the speculative froth, shake out the bad actors and let the rest of the industry get on with building some truly valuable applications for blockchain under the renewed scrutiny of regulators.

Perhaps they’re right, but even those outside of the crypto speculation game that are seeking to make blockchain work for the finance world will have a great deal of work to do in 2023 to overcome the fiascos that occurred towards the end of last year.

Συνέχεια εδώ

 
-Cryptocurrencies can improve speed, cost and ease of access of payments

Although cryptocurrency is still in nascent stages, 91% of crypto holders believe it’ll become as common as card payments. Despite making major strides, existing electronic payment systems suffer in regards to cost, efficiency and access.

Legacy systems still fall short of providing access to financial services to 1.7bn adults or efficient cross-border retail payments. Blockchain technology brings the benefits of faster settlement, access to new customers  and lower barriers to entry.

Blockchain networks handle international transactions in minutes as opposed to the traditional days or hours. They can settle transactions for under $0.01, considerably cheaper than traditional payment card networks. The rise of stablecoins has highlighted shortcomings in traditional cross-border payments. Studies show that distributed ledger technology improves the efficiency of cross-border payments and blockchain technology could help banks save $27bn by 2030 on international transactions.

Συνέχεια εδώ

Πηγή: omfif.org