This article by Brian Armstrong has been edited and was first published on December 19, 2023, on Coinbase.
Summary
- Crypto is the future of money, allowing people to move their money with speed, reach, and autonomy, and without powerful institutions gating their access and charging high fees and interest rates.
- Worldwide, merchants and payment rails take payment in crypto, attracted by the lower fees, higher speed, and access to new customers.
- Global financial centers are transforming themselves into crypto hubs to claim the jobs and talent that a more open, more global system will bring.
- Read Explainers from CCI.
Why crypto is the future of money
Cryptocurrency isn’t just here to stay – it’s the future of money. The industry has turned the page on the unlawful behavior that distracted from its progress; compliant growth is in. Following its massive market correction, crypto is up 90% in value this year and 60% in volume in Q4. Globally, 425 million people own it and 83% of G20 countries and major financial hubs have enacted or are working toward rules that create certainty for the industry.
With that kind of scale and momentum, innovation builds on itself. SEC approval of spot bitcoin ETFs could spur new growth for crypto as an asset class. But as use of crypto has grown, so has its utility – from an asset class, to driving needed updates to the century-old financial system.
Every day, more consumers have grown up with the internet, and they expect to be able to move their money with a speed, reach, and autonomy that legacy financial institutions, and even online payment systems based on these institutions, can’t deliver.
They also want to move it cheaply, without powerful institutions gating their access and charging high fees and interest rates. Today in the US, half or more of key consumers and voters are seeking alternatives to the current system, including 52% of adults aged 18-40, 6 in 10 Black Americans, and nearly half (47%) of Hispanic Americans. Crypto is helping to create a more open, more global system.
The appeal of crypto worldwide
Around the world, more than 100,000 merchants and payment rails themselves take payment in crypto, including PayPal and Visa. Among the reasons why: lower fees, higher speed, and access to new customers.
In 2022, global onchain stablecoin transfers approached $9 trillion – more than Mastercard, Amex, and Discover combined. Stablecoins help currencies like the US dollar exist in digital form. They’re faster, more affordable, and more accessible than fiat money, but just as stable and secure. For everyday users, they offer the benefits of cash without the drawbacks. In countries with unstable governments and currencies, they offer citizens secure cross-border transactions.
Countries with low economic freedom, such as Argentina, Brazil, and Nigeria, have among the highest usage rates of crypto payments and adoption as share of wealth (and are among the biggest populations in the world).
Workers living abroad use crypto to send remittances. About one in nine people globally depend on them. Crypto transfers, on average, are 96% cheaper than other transfers and take 10 minutes compared to up to 10 days.
The development of rules, trusted products and global crypto hubs
Global financial centers like London, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Singapore are transforming themselves into crypto hubs to claim the jobs and talent that a more open, more global system will bring.
Crypto gives people economic freedom, ensuring access to their own money and fair participation in the economy ungated by powerful legacy institutions – enabling people to build, create, and own their work.
Coinbase is building a runway of clear rules, partnerships, and trusted products and infrastructure to support today’s and future innovations, from financial system updates that are now under way, to crypto’s next chapter – when 1 billion people around the world are using crypto-powered decentralized services, cloud services, and commerce, signaling that onchain is the new online.
A version of this article first appeared on Coinbase.
