The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every currency in the world, including digital currencies. In addition, it has impacted blockchain, the technology behind digital currencies.
Coronavirus will accelerate the decline of cash
We’ve been moving towards a cashless society for quite some time. A few decades ago, people started paying for stuff with credit cards and after some time, digital currencies arrived.
Although still in their infancy, these currencies have already created a lot of noise across the world. In addition, some other factors led to banks considering a transition towards digital payments.
For example, the 2009 Västberga heist made Sweden consider going cashless. Cash use in this Scandinavian country went down from 39 percent in 2010 to 13 percent in 2018. Now, the country began developing its own digital currency called e-krona.
Huge crises, like the one in Sweden, have the potential to speed up some major changes in the way we live. The coronavirus sure is one and it will accelerate the decline of cash across the world. Although the reports say that the currency doesn’t transmit COVID-19, people still aren’t ready to use it. Instead, they already started turning towards digital currencies.
Cryptocurrency will become the new gold
For ages, gold has been one of the safest investments one can make. Therefore, investors used it for portfolio diversification. With the coronavirus pandemic causing a lot of uncertainty in the market, many of them started buying gold earlier this year. However, adding gold to their portfolios wasn’t as easy as before. The borders were shut down and logistics became a huge issue. As a result, investors had to find a new portfolio diversification option and they turned to digital currencies.
Although some predicted that cryptocurrency won’t do well in the pandemic, this didn’t prove to be the case. For example, let’s take a look at Bitcoin. Many didn’t expect this digital currency to stay above $10,000 when the pandemic hits its peak. Initially, Bitcoin went down and it indeed dropped below $10,000. However, with people turning towards digital currencies in times of crisis, Bitcoin went up to $10,500 in no time. If things keep moving in the same direction, we might get to see Bitcoin as well as other digital currencies rise even higher. This is exactly why experts refer to crypto as the new gold and more investors are starting to buy it.
The cryptocurrency industry will do well
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the worldwide economy. With the virus spreading across 188 countries, many businesses were shut down and many people lost their jobs. The virus mostly affected small businesses but large corporations felt the impact as well. Apple closed all of its stores outside of China temporarily and Bloomingdale’s did the same with all of their 56 locations.
Changes like this have made the market crazier than ever and investors are keeping a close eye on what’s going on. It looks like markets are exposed for an even broader sell-off and being prepared has never been more important.
Luckily, you can get all the important information on sites like AskTraders and avoid getting left behind. While some industries seem to be losing value, the cryptocurrency market is doing well.
More and more people are showing interest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies. Not only this, but even banks are starting to buy crypto for the first time.
The use of blockchain will increase
If you’ve been paying attention for the past few years, you had to hear a lot about blockchain. This technology is growing in many ways and it helps us address some important issues such as transparency, resiliency, and immutability. Without it, trading with digital currencies as we know it wouldn’t be possible.
The coronavirus pandemic has made even more people take a look at this tech and this is definitely an interesting time for blockchain. The global response to the coronavirus will spur even more interest in investment in this technology. Don’t be surprised to see more industries and sectors relying on blockchain in the future.
Not only this, but blockchain might even help us prevent pandemics in the future. More and more people are starting to realize the importance of this technology, and some argue that had doctors and hospitals used blockchain, fighting off the coronavirus would’ve been easier. Expect hospitals and health organizations to utilize this tech in the future and transfer information in real-time.
The bottom line
Cryptocurrency and blockchain are here to stay. It’s important to understand the impact of COVID-19 on both as the pandemic continues. Predicting everything is impossible but at the moment, the future looks bright for digital currencies and blockchain technology.
