Tech Adoption Friday
Hey everyone,
Welcome to our new column — Tech Adoption Friday: your five-minute zero-knowledge rollup of crypto tech and adoption news. Each Friday, we collect the most relevant news pieces from the last week to give you the TDLR of where blockchain tech is headed and how far along the adoption curve we have come.
Here’s what we are looking at in our first issue:
- ERC-4337 seeing slow adoption
- Crypto is the second most popular investment in France
- Spot ETFs to bring in new investors
- Kazakhstan launches a CBDC
ERC-4337 smart accounts have not been widely adopted, with low user retention, transaction activity, and profitability for infrastructure providers. However, some experts believe adoption will happen slowly but surely. According to Dune Analytics, there were over 420,000 active smart accounts in August but only 143,000 in October.
Our take:
Disappointing news, as account abstraction was lauded as a game-changer for the wallet space. But it’s still early doors and new retail interest has not entered the blockchain market yet.
Read more here.
A survey found that cryptocurrencies are the second most popular investment asset in France, with 9.4% of adults holding them. This is just slightly lower than the most popular asset, real estate funds. The survey also found that younger people are more likely to invest in cryptocurrencies and have a lower level of financial knowledge. France is actively promoting digital innovations, such as a new institute for crypto-assets.
Our take:
No surprise here. This trend will likely only accelerate as wealth is passed on to younger generations.
Read more here.
Coinbase predicts that the approval of spot BTC ETFs in the U.S. will bring in new types of investors, such as RIAs and retirement funds. This will also ease restrictions for large money managers and institutions, potentially improving liquidity and price discovery. The introduction of ETFs could lead to the development of new products and increase demand, ultimately contributing to the growth of the crypto market.
Our take:
The spot Bitcoin ETF has generated much buzz in the crypto community, but its effect remains to be seen. New interest could definitely spark innovation for applications and infrastructure.
Read more here.
Kazakhstan’s CBDC, the digital tenge, has been officially launched on the retail market and is expected to see further development by 2024. The digital tenge can be used for payments through plastic cards and holds potential for offline transactions and cross-border trade. Kazakh authorities also tightened their scrutiny over the crypto market, blocking major crypto exchanges without a local license.
Our take:
CBDCs are inevitably coming, even though their adoption is still questionable. We will continue to monitor how regulators want to reconcile CBDCs with traditional cryptocurrencies.
Read more here.
