It should not be a surprise that the cryptocurrency industry has come so far, given all of the new and exciting ideas underlying it. In 2010, we were still using phones with buttons, while laptops and wifi networks were not yet everywhere, but the technology around us has reached a whole new level in just 13 years. Given the time that Bitcoin appeared, it was typical for interest in the cryptocurrency industry to be limited. We could only talk about a market much later, with the emergence of other cryptocurrencies. Now, the same technology is increasing in popularity and adoption, and everyone is talking about it.
What period are we talking about exactly?
We’re talking about the period of 2009, when Bitcoin was officially launched, during the global economic crisis. Initially used by a few programmers for making transfers among themselves or for buying pizza (the famous Florida case), BTC quickly gained media attention by 2011, when it reached parity with the US dollar. After more people showed interest in the cryptocurrency industry that no one understood, and after the media coverage, the coin continued to appreciate in the following months to over $10. As the access to advanced technologies increased among populations, the industry’s popularity also increased.
And yet, why did the market proliferate?
Hype
First, when we talk about the cryptocurrency industry, we should always include the hype in the market – that is, the excessive interest and aggressive online promotion, which often exaggerates the benefits of promoting the market. With the stock market boom, interest in alternatives also emerged, and many people are looking to the cryptocurrency industry, hoping for significant gains, even if they are riskier. Due to a lack of education about Blockchain and the cryptocurrency industry in general, many people entered the market, who, in the desire to bring the industry into everyone’s portfolio, created a slightly altered image with the help of mass media and influencers, making people hope for wealth.
Alternative to traditional systems
Those don’t offer many choices for minorities, people in disadvantaged areas or those who do not have a stable income, and so on. We live in Europe, and that makes us very lucky – but in other parts of the world, access to a bank account is complicated, with many days of going to banks, waiting in queues, and providing banks with valid documents regarding valid employment contracts and the origin of all money. For the elderly, stay-at-home mothers, or freelancers, access to a bank account can become a challenge. The industry has solved this problem for those who use it for these purposes – to send money home to partners or family easily, with minimal fees, even from other continents
The fact that it is an alternative to what we knew so far has naturally led to point 3:
Global adoption and acceptance of Bitcoin payments
We can consider it a similar situation to the chicken and the egg – the popularity and utility of crypto grows in the world, and as it does, BTC is adopted as an official means of payment by many International companies for its goods and services worldwide, some areas making BTC the official currency of the country – like El Salvador or Central African Republic – things that have further increased the industry’s popularity.
The increase in interest from institutional investors
Many still shy away from the cryptocurrency industry because it is an unregulated market, so the fact that institutional investors enter this much riskier market than what they are used to can be one of the reasons why the industry’s confidence is growing in the eyes of others. More and more companies want to increase their portfolios, seeing how some small or individual investors and traders make a lot of percentages from this market.
Last but not least, it is important to note the interest of corporations and governments in Blockchain. It is a technology we can use in many industries and dramatically facilitates our lives. The more utility this technology has, the more the sector from which it originated will grow. Also, to promote the transfer of information on the Blockchain, whether we are talking about health, national archives, or logistics companies, we will need to use both coins and non-fungible tokens on these platforms – so the technology becomes more understood, accepted, and adopted by industries.
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