With everything that has recently been going on in the Bitcoin world, especially in China, it is easy to overlook the progress that is being made, and the positive developments that are released. However, two recent developments cannot be ignored.

Yelp Identifies Bitcoin Accepting Businesses

Yelp, the most active, and largest, online business search engine and reviewing website, now identifies businesses that accept Bitcoin. This is a huge boon to these businesses, as accepting Bitcoin has already been linked to significantly increased sales, and even larger profit margins. Users of Bitcoin will now have the ability to easily sort through local businesses that will accept their coins, and this will help to show the world the true power of Bitcoin. If other Bitcoin users are like myself, and I know that many are, they will be intentionally picking out Bitcoin accepting businesses in their area to support.

This move by Yelp will likely increase the user base of Yelp itself as well, as individuals in the Bitcoin community that previously had no reason to use their service have now become interested in it. Then, with all of these points combined, the advantage that Bitcoin offers to businesses is approaching the point of game-changing competitive advantage. By limiting profit loss due to chargebacks and payment processing fees, businesses that operate in industries based on high volume, but very small profit margins, may gain the ability to lower prices to a point that would cause losses for competitors that are not accepting Bitcoin. Once that begins, it should signal an expansion in acceptance of Bitcoin at a rate beyond anything experienced before.

Bloomberg Is Covering Bitcoin

On April 30, Bloomberg announced that the “Bloomberg Professional service” will now include Bitcoin pricing data and charts, which is great for day traders, while also offering the ability to track the latest news and social media posts. Even though Bloomberg has stated that it is,”not endorsing or guaranteeing Bitcoin,” this is still a huge vote of confidence in the idea of digital currency. Bloomberg is an incredibly important facet of the financial, and trading, world. This move is, effectively, stating that a large enough portion of their user base, which includes nearly every investor, stock broker, professional in the financial industry, and the majority of the business world as a whole, is interested in Bitcoin, and would like it integrated into Bloomberg’s services.

The legitimacy this brings to Bitcoin cannot be expressed in words. An incredible number of investors have been on the fence about Bitcoin for a very long time, and Bloomberg may very well be the push needed to bring these individuals into the market, along with a huge injection of funds to expand the market. Bloomberg’s acceptance may also have a positive effect on elected officials, regulators, and other government employee that can influence the rules being put into place to regarding the regulation of digital currencies. The repercussions of this move may not be immediately obvious, but the long term impact on the image of Bitcoin should be carefully observed.

What is Next for Bitcoin?

After these two announcements in such a short period of time, there is a good chance that we may see more large companies jumping on board soon. How soon is unknown, but I guarantee that many business owners, andor executives, are now working out the math, and will soon see that the potential gains, from accepting Bitcoin, are so incredible that it cannot be ignored.