COVID-19 & The push for Cryptocurrency
In this wonderful editorial on Coindesk, Dr. Prattes discusses what the current pandemic has provided to cryptocurrencies: an opportunity to further validate its existence. The argument is that, digital currencies are not a potential source of coronavirus transmission and hence a good alternative to traditional currencies in the current times of uncertainty. He ends the article by raising an important yet complicated question to the public :
Who do you trust the most (or the least) to take care of your money? Your government, bitcoin’s developers and miners or Facebook?
The answer to this question, isn’t a unanimous one. So that makes it further difficult to analyze what’s in store for the acceptability of cryptocurrencies as a regularized alternate form of payments.
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The need for a digital currency has always been there and it is more so needed now. The effect that COVID-19 imposes in every social, political and economic sense, it is definitely an opportunity to showcase that they are needed and here to stay. So, what cryptocurrency should we choose?
Turns out that, every cryptocurrency in the market right now is not a perfect one and each one of them has it’s own flaws, major and minor.
Consider Bitcoin,the dad of all cryptocurrencies. In my humble opinion, Bitcoin has completely deviated from its original purpose; that is to serve as a trusted alternative to traditional money for everyone. Reasons being multiple, there is one that stands out the most:
Bitcoin has become more of a commodity of value, an asset or an investment like Gold or Silver than a means of electronic cash payment.
A month or so old article reflects that the cryptocurrency has failed the coronavirus test. The W.H.O declared the coronavirus pandemic as an “Emergency of International Concern” on January 30, 2020. Beginning on February 1, 2020 at $9385.54 ; hitting its lowest during the pandemic at$4982.57 on March 12, 2020; to a current value at $7760.31 on April 28, 2020 at the time of writing this article. This illustrates the volatility of Bitcoin. It is also an indicator as to how much it is attached to the stock market. Even the believers of Bitcoin need to ponder on this, as per this article on the MIT Technology Review magazine. But the point is, that Bitcoin has distanced itself from being the de facto cryptocurrency alternative.
What about other cryptocurrencies? The Altcoins?
As said before, they have their own issues to deal with. Ranging from trustworthiness to value, Altcoins face enormous challenges. Unlike Bitcoin which is damaged beyond repair, Altcoins still have the opportunity to subvert the social and economic challenges. But still global acceptance is still a long way to go, subject to political and lawful regulations.
Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that although Cryptocurrencies are the need of the hour, we are still a long way off in finding the most optimal one to replace traditional currency.
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