Although its price failed to continue edging up at the same pace as it did during the first quarter of 2021, Bitcoin is still a trending topic in the fintech industry. For the time being, BTC is trading near $37,000, still way above the former 2017 all-time high and benefiting from increased trust coming from large companies.
This year had been a key milestone since, for the first time in history, Bitcoin is considered the same as any other traditional investments. Such an occurrence can have a fundamental impact on future flows, as well as the broader adoption of cryptocurrencies.
With a 48% dominance in the cryptocurrency industry and close to $700 billion in market capitalization, Bitcoin continues to be an undisputed leader, benefiting not just from the network effect, but also the increased trust of reputable financial companies.
Bitcoin used as an investment
Square, MicroStrategy, and Tesla are just some of the large brands that already have stakes in Bitcoin. Now that big corporations had started to keep BTC reserves, despite still elevated volatility, the broad industry can conclude that over the long run, the price can keep the same ascending path, regardless of short-term setbacks.
On top of Bitcoin investments in the corporate world, individuals can also use it via different investing vehicles. In the USA, Coinbase had partnered with ForUsAll Inc., a 401(k) provider, allowing administers to invest up to 5% of their contributions in Bitcoin, and other high-ranking altcoins such as Ether or Litecoin.
Retail traders can use Bitcoin as funding
Another fintech branch that seems to be drawn into the Bitcoin growing popularity is retail brokerage. easyMarkets, one of the top CFD providers in the market, now offers μBTC accounts for customers wanting to deposit, trade, and withdraw without having to work with fiat currencies.
There continues to be increased demand for Bitcoin among individuals from all around the world, looking after alternatives for the traditional fiat monetary system. If up until now they were unable to use their BTC holding for online trading, easyMarkets provides the right solution, within a regulated framework.
The μBTC account comes in hand with negative balance protection, availability on both the easyMarkets platform and MT4, tight fixed spreads for 200+ tradable instruments, and accurate trade execution.
Crypto regulation to accelerate the process?
Bitcoin and crypto usage could further accelerate in the future if a proper regulatory framework will ultimately be developed. For now, cryptocurrency users benefit from complete privacy and no supervision from financial agencies. That is expected to change, as more countries had changed their approach and aim to implement new laws as soon as possible.
In the end, if Bitcoin and other altcoins will need to comply with financial standards, that can make the industry more robust, and open the path for more investments. The blockchain technology has numerous applications in the real economy, which is why fintech companies continue to develop innovative solutions that improve productivity and transparency.
