Hold or sell? Get value now or later?

A question often asked by those uninitiated to the cryptocurrency markets is “how can I use this?” The question is simple, and while the answer is on its way there, it still has a ways to go.

The truth is that anyone interested in cryptocurrency needs to do their research first, this is a brand new frontier in human communication and society as a whole. We are still at the beginning of the beginning of decentralized assets, this asset class will continue to grow as better and better interfaces and use-cases are built. One of the most important of which is often dismissed as a relic of the current institution, lending.

Why is Lending Important?

Lending has existed in varying forms for a very very long time and has played a major role in many people’s lives. Businesses have been started, homes purchased, and retirements secured all through the power of lending. And while the history of lending has its fair share of bad actors, the overall forward progress created by financial markets owes much of its success to lending.

The infancy of blockchain technology and further crypto-assets is confirmed by a nearly non-existent acknowledgement of traditional financial markets and products. This is a major error on the part of industry leaders, who have a responsibility to the wider market to build stable and sustainable products. An incredible amount of useful things can and will be built on Bitcoin and other blockchain solutions, the momentum behind these technologies continues to snowball. In order to ensure the continued success of these new assets however, we musn’t ignore the lessons of the past.

How Can Your Business Benefit From Crypto-assets?

As markets continue to develop, cryptocurrency and assets will increasingly be seen as an important component of any portfolio. The simple truth is you should own bitcoin if it suits your needs and you have a reason to own bitcoin. As a business, one of the ways you can add bitcoin and other crypto’s to your asset holdings is to accept these currencies for payment, in part or whole, for your goods and services.

There are an increasing amount of transactions everyday using cryptocurrencies. A growing number of individuals are taking advantage the decentralized assets in their day to day life. On an even more extreme level there is incredible growth of these assets and currencies in inflation-ridden countries around the world. A greater number of people are using these assets and currencies in complement with their national currency.

Amongst the increasing amount of businesses accepting cryptocurrency, many quickly clear the coin to cash or employ use a service that does so, this makes sense as businesses need cash for their operational expenses, often quickly. Lending creates the ability for these businesses to free up cash flow while holding a position in the cryptocurrency markets.

The Idealists Vision

While the current leaders of blockchain are admirable in their idealism they often ignore some core realities of the world. So many are building products and protocols around things they desire to build instead of things being demanded by customers. Everyday, new projects pop up with lofty goals, ill-defined timelines, and unclear plans for success. Everyday that the market fails to deliver usable and useful products is a day of potential users lost.

The inevitable creation, recreation, and redevelopment of financial tools for the cryptocurrency market will only serve to help the individual; the more stability brought, the lower the time preference of these individuals will be and the greater we will see these assets used as a means of exchange. “Banking the Unbanked/Unbanking the Banked” is a nice concept until you realize that the institutions that exist now serve a very deep rooted function in our society. Whether you like it or not the security and ease of use that banks bring to the majority of consumers is a very real factor in the acceptance of any industry. You have to make your customers feel comfortable, so building with them in mind is crucial.

Where to Go From Here

If you’re interested in accepting and using cryptocurrencies within your business you should first explore Existing Options to do so, again many are in their early stages so make sure to do your due diligence. This asset class will do quite a bit to change markets and networks. Increased adoption will come to fruition through the creation of things people want and need, the strongest assets will become powerhouses in the portfolio of anyone that holds them, and the utility that they can provide to the entire world.