Future Outlook & Roadblocks

ℹ️

This page is mainly based on the interviewees’ answers and own opinions.

In general, all interview participants see a continued increase in the adoption of cryptocurrency payments as there is a need to make worldwide payments more accessible, faster, and cheaper.

📍

Especially stablecoins like

USDC

could see an increase in adoption as they are easy to grasp and are not volatile.

For the long term, crypto-backed like

DAI

and algorithmic-backed stablecoins like

UST

are best suited for the future as they do not depend on a central entity. However, FIAT-backed coins like

USDT

and

USDC

are strong adoption-wise and are easily attainable as they are supported by exchanges.

⚠️

Margins for stablecoin payments are not as high as regular cryptocurrencies because of the missing volatility. This could be an obstacle as an organization needs a large volume to run a profitable business with it.

👤

Usability

is a crucial factor for adoption. Payments with cryptocurrencies must be as easy as existing solutions such as Apple Pay, which has not yet been achieved. Handling private keys and recovery passwords impacts the user experience, and there is still room for improvement to reduce switching costs. Also, the process of initially attaining cryptocurrencies entails complexity.

Other factors hindering the adoption in their current state are

, and

. The number of accepting venues and the availability need to increase to compete with

Visa

and

Mastercard

. Knowledge of cryptocurrencies needs to be spread further. Nevertheless, the market is evolving fast, and the benefits seem to be more significant than the obstacles.

✅

All technical challenges for the adoption as payment are already solved, including the scalability problem, but current roadblocks are regulatory and usability questions and switching incentives rather than technical challenges.

🚀

With all trends pointing in the right direction and set to continue, cryptocurrencies and, in particular, stablecoins seem predestined for future use as a means of payment.