The year in crypto: As 2020 draws close to its halfway mark, we find ourselves turning and looking back on these last months with — let us speak clearly — shock and bafflement. And that’s even without what’s been happening to Bitcoin…

If you think back to January or February 2020, I don’t think any of us could have in any way predicted the events — both in terms of financial markets, cryptocurrenies, bitcoin events as well as real-world events that of course have a direct effect on all of the above — that would unfold across the world and leave the global population reeling.

It’s been, well, quite a year

From the global Coronavirus pandemic to riots which in some cases have turned violent, in protest of what many see as an entrenched racism in the US police force and indeed even the entire state structure, to the crushing of popular democratic movements in Hong Kong (and a new draconian security law being introduced on that island), to the swelling of support for right wing populist parties and movements, it’s been, well, quite a year.

All of this turmoil and unrest, plus of course the pandemic’s closing down of the global economy, has naturally had a hefty impact on the financial markets. After all, the financial markets act as an accurate and up-to-the-minute barometer of expectations of stability or its opposite.

Which is why it may well be a perfect moment to look again at the world of cryptocurrency. Has its day finally arrived? Not just as currencies upon which to speculate; but as a realistic alternative form of payment for trade.

Much had been made of the planned tightening of the Bitcoin stock which happened in early 2020. Every few years the value of newly mined Bitcoin coins is halved, in order to account for increasing computer power and the resultant ease of mining for new Bitcoins. Previous halvings have shot Bitcoin value skywards and the same was hoped for the 2020 event.

In the end the 2020 halving event led only to a small bump in value.

At the moment (writing in late July 2020) the value is hovering at around 10,000 $, with hopes that the currency will still increase in value over the next months as investors look for a safe place to put their dollars through the financial fallout of the coronavirus-induced crisis.

And yet Bitcoin and co. have still not made it into day-to-day common usage as a means of payment.

Which is perhaps why it’s so exciting that Paypal is making moves to include the cryptocurrency into its payment structure.

And while Paypal may be seen by crypto crusaders as a perfect example of exactly that which cryptocurrency was meant to be freeing us from; still it seems that it’s the kind of worldwide infrastructure, the kind of trust level and payment structure, that crypto needs in order to truly become the currency of the future.

Not just for investing in, but actually using to pay for goods and services over the counter.

And as always, the future is wide open.