A new joint study conducted by Imperial College and eToro, the U.K. trading platform, claims that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could become mainstream forms of payment within a decade. The study also found that cryptocurrency already fulfills one of the three main criteria of money.

An eToro press release says the report is written by Dr. Zeynep Gurguc of Imperial College Business School and Professor William Knottenbelt of Imperial College London. Titled “Cryptocurrencies: Overcoming the Barriers to Trust and Adoption”, the study finds that cryptocurrency could be a mainstream payment means of payment “within the decade” and that it fits well as the “next step” for money in general.

The report refers to three main principles of fiat money; acting as a store of value (‘allowing individuals to make intemporal choices on when to spend their purchasing power’), acting as a medium of exchange (‘facilitating the exchange of goods and services by eliminating the inefficiencies associated with a barter economy’), and acting as a unit of account (‘acting as a measure of value in the economic system’). While the study found that cryptocurrencies already meet the principle of acting as a store of value, they need to solve six challenges to meet the other two requirements.

The six requirements cryptocurrency is yet to meet, according to the study, are usability, regulation, scalability, privacy, volatility, and incentives.

Iqbal V. Gandham, the UK Managing Director of eToro, says “the thing that will ultimately tip cryptocurrencies into mainstream is the issue of cross-border payments.” According to Gandham, “Cryptos are cross-border by design, enabling wealth to be transferred far more easily.”

Gandham also noted that “The first email was sent in 1971, but it took nearly three decades for the technology to become commonplace with a user-friendly interface in the form of hotmail.” He added that “The first ever Bitcoin transaction took place a little over eight years ago and today we are already seeing it begin to meet the requirements of everyday money.”

Dr. Gurguc stressed that “payment systems (or asset classes) do not emerge overnight” but the “use of cryptocurrencies and crypto-assets is the next natural step if they successfully overcome the six challenges” mentioned mentioned in the report.