AnyTask.com becomes one of the first freelance marketplaces to enable crypto payments, starting with Electroneum (ETN)

The cryptocurrency market has been booming over the last decade, but what does it mean for people in the ‘real world’? Is it a solution in search of a problem, or can it truly change lives?

Fast-forward more than a decade after the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009 and it’s clear to many that crypto is here to stay. But is it the means of payment that everyone was hoping for? Surely the ‘Bitcoin Pizza Guy’ who spent 10,000 Bitcoins on two pizzas in 2010 made everyone sufficiently wary of spending their cryptocurrency?! Well, let us tell you why online platforms like AnyTask.com are beginning to enable cryptocurrency payments, and how the platform’s usage of Electroneum (ETN) is overcoming some of the challenges faced by millions of people around the globe.

According to former Goldman Sachs Exec, Raoul Pal, user growth in the cryptocurrency market today is significantly higher than the internet sector experienced back in the 1990s and early 2000s, suggesting the cryptocurrency market is expected to explode over the next decade. In an published earlier this year, Raoul Pal said:

“If I look at the total derivatives market, it’s $1 quadrillion. I think there’s a reasonable chance of this being a $250 trillion asset class, which is 100X from here, which would be the largest growth of any asset class in all of history in the shortest period of time,” adding, “That will pretty much dovetail in with the idea that 3.5 billion people are using it — that’s just extrapolating the growth numbers of the network. So if [there are] 3.5 billion users in 2030, well the market cap’s going to be something like $250 trillion.”

It’s exciting to hear that cryptocurrency is fuelling an entirely new financial sector, but it begs the question, who is truly benefitting from this growth? How will this sector improve people’s lives? Is it simply, as some suggest, a solution in search of a problem?

Visa is already seeing a rapid shift towards people wanting to use cryptocurrency for purchases, rather than simply as a vehicle for investment. They announced in January 2022 that its crypto services had facilitated more than $2.5 billion in crypto transactions during its fiscal first quarter of 2022. Just last year, that figure would have equated to more than 70% of their total annual cryptocurrency volume.

Blockchain technology has so much more to offer than simply an investment vehicle, or yet another means of payment in an already crowded space. Cryptocurrency is providing people with a new way of accepting payments that are free of barriers and alleviates the need for intermediaries such as Visa and Mastercard, and commercial banks. It has the potential to overcome difficulties experienced by more than 1.7 billion people today who cannot access traditional finance services ( World Bank Global Findex Database). We can use this technology to connect millions of people to the global digital economy and provide them with many ways to earn an income online — bringing significant value not only to them and their families, but also to their local communities where domestic opportunities to earn an income is limited, or restrictive.

AnyTask.com is connecting Buyers and Sellers like never before, and as of today, allows freelancers to scale up their earning potential through the use of cryptocurrency

In 2019, AnyTask.com set out to become one of the world’s first freelance marketplaces to offer a solution for un- and underbanked populations. It does so by providing a platform in which people can sell digital services online without the need for a bank account.

Whilst Buyers pay with debit or credit card, freelancers receive payment in the form of cryptocurrency, removing the need for a bank account, Upon completion and approval of the work, the payment arrives quickly to the freelancer’s ETN Online Wallet and can be spent across a variety of everyday essentials, including mobile airtime and data, utility bills, and retail vouchers — thus, removing the need to ‘cash out’, which often requires access to an online exchange and therefore a bank account.

Starting today, AnyTask.com is introducing a new feature that allows Buyers to not only purchase with debit or credit card, but also using cryptocurrency — starting with Electroneum (ETN). This is vital for those freelancers who are unable to ‘cash out’ of ETN but want to spend their earnings elsewhere on the platform. Furthermore, it presents a greater opportunity to outsource work to others, giving freelancers the opportunity to focus on increasing sales.

“Direct ETN purchases within AnyTask.com will make my life easier, both as a seller and as a buyer! No need to change the ETN to FIAT and withdraw it to be able to spend it.” — IvanStudio, AnyTask.com Freelancer

It’s time for governments to embrace blockchain technology and its potential to become a tool for greater financial inclusion

As the cryptocurrency market continues to grow over the next decade, towards the aspiring heights of a $250 trillion asset class, it’s important to focus on the positive implications this technology has to share with the world. It’s easy to be led by the ‘new’ and ‘exciting’ trends within the space or be distracted by warnings of malicious intent from minority groups. The reality is, that there are more than 1.7 billion people in this world who potentially stand to benefit from this new technology, and it’s important that governments embrace it.

Studies have shown that blockchain technology will potentially impact many areas of society, which will aid massively in the development of a more connected global economy. The use case here with AnyTask.com and Electroneum (ETN) is a great example of how decentralised blockchain technology can connect people to the global economy, introducing with it new ways to earn.

If you’re interested in seeing how AnyTask.com works, why not check out some of the most popular categories and hire one of the talented freelancers today:

Originally published at https://news.electroneum.com on June 8, 2022.