Crypto Currencies to Kill Off Cash

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ popularity has made the national government consider making their own digital currencies.

Digital currencies have been around since 2009, and since then, it’s been part of the monetary system – with bitcoin spearheading the growth of demand for other cryptocurrencies or alt coins.

Virtual currencies have been part of the world’s monetary system since 2009, when Bitcoin became the first of what is now a handful of these so-called cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies’, anonymity, security and convenience in transactions boosted its popularity. Now, a lot of industries are migrating into the platform.

As their popularity grows, digital currencies may eventually play an even bigger role in our daily and financial lives. Aside from fears that existing virtual currencies will make it more difficult to detect tax evasion, Canada, Sweden, China, and other countries have expressed their plans to release their own digital currencies. For Sweden, their coin could be launched in the next 2 years.

While a recent study asserts that a shift away from cash is yet to happen, experts say a combination of national and independent virtual currencies could eventually take over the coins and paper tenders that people have been using since time immemorial.

EMBRACING BITCOIN

If the move from traditional to virtual currencies turns out like how expert expect it , it would take at least 10 years. However, there are now a lot of retailers that are now embracing bitcoins. Expedia and Microsoft now accept digital currencies, and as per a recent survey that involved 100 US mechants, it is found that at least 60% would accept bitcoin as payment.

The real estate industry is among the first to embrace bitcoin as payment. There are now states like Arizona, Florida, and Vermont, where laws have undergone some amendments to allow blockchain to be used for recording and transferring property deeds.

Why is real estate slowly moving to virtual currencies? Simple. It is because of convenience. Traditional real estate transactions could take weeks, and crypto currencies could cut the processing time significantly.

“It’s very simple and easy,” Natalia Karayaneva, CEO of the San Francisco-based realty company Propy, speaks of cryptocurrency transactions. “You just log in, pay, sign the documents electronically, and then you get a title deed with a blockchain address, as soon as the cryptocurrency is received. No hassle with banks.”

In New York City, some apartment buildings will start accepting digital currencies for rent payments this year.

“There are no fundamentals we can use to pinpoint just how much Bitcoin is really worth,” states Kevin McIntyre, professor of economics at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. “This makes it difficult to predict the future, and how much you stand to lose should the bubble burst.”

At the end of the day, the future of bitcoin and other virtual currencies will depend on what we’d value more: the stability and safety of national currencies or the security and privacy that bitcoins and other crypto currencies offer.

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