Blockchain technologies continue to become widespread day by day. We will soon see them being used even at sites like online casino Canada. In this context, 2024 was a prolific year for cryptocurrencies, and there were many exciting developments. We have gathered the most significant developments for you in this article.
Litecoin and VISA Partnership
The biggest criticism of cryptocurrencies is that they are complicated to use daily. Indeed, no digital currency has the tools to make it easy and fast to use. At least, that is how it was until now, as Litecoin recently announced a collaboration with VISA. To put it simply, if you have a “Litecoin Card,” you can use your LTC balance anywhere that accepts VISA.
Issued by VISA, this debit card is linked to your Litecoin balance and is automatically converted to Fiat at the time of transaction. This process is no different from using any other debit card. Therefore, you can use your card at POS machines, shop online with it, or withdraw cash from ATMs. This move of Litecoin could make cryptocurrencies popular. The Litecoin debit card is currently only available in the United States.
NFT Madness
Non-fungible tokens have been around for a long time, but they have never been as popular as in the past year. You can think of these tokens as a kind of digital certificate of ownership. An NFT can be created for anything that can be digitized (artwork, text, photographs, etc.), and this digital token can be traded. In a way, it’s like buying a piece of art at an auction: NFTs aren’t things you can hold in your hands, but they will stay on the blockchain forever and be known as yours because of their unique signature.
Until the end of 2020, NFTs were pretty niche. However, after digital artists put their works on sale using them and sometimes earning millions of dollars in revenue, they suddenly became quite popular. Even collectors who do not know what NFTs are or even have anything to do with this technology started to buy them. There are even NFT artworks that sell for more than $90 million: this technology has now become an industry in its own right, and marketplaces, where NFTs can be bought and sold, can have a monthly trading volume of up to $4 billion.
There are different views on the future of this technology. Some people think that NFTs alone can push all other blockchain technologies forward. This is because so many different industries are showing interest in them. Among them is the gaming industry: some big companies such as Ubisoft and EA have already announced that they plan to add NFT to their games. The more individuals and organizations transition to NFTs, the more widespread blockchain technology will be – at least, that’s the hope. However, some think that this interest is temporary and that NFTs will lose their appeal in a few years at most.
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The “Official” Perspective on Digital Currency is Changing
Until now, most governments have kept their distance from cryptocurrencies, with some outright banning them. This approach continues in some countries. For example, the Central Bank of Russia proposed banning cryptocurrency mining and trading in January 2022. In practice, this is the same thing as banning cryptocurrencies.
However, this statement did not cause any depreciation in cryptocurrencies. One of the reasons for this is that even countries that were distant from this technology in the past are slowly starting to change their minds. For example, the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) has decided that federally chartered banks can use stable coins for all banking transactions. OCC is directly affiliated with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). So, this statement is more important than it seems because it concerns all banks in the United States. In a way, we can say that the United States economy “approved” stable coins.
In addition, Sweden, Thailand, and multiple African countries continue to develop their digital currencies. Sweden announced in December 2020 that the Central Bank had started working on a digital currency. However, since Sweden has been working on the “e-krona” for more than a year and conducting tests in different locations, this currency may be used sooner than expected. Considering that the use of cash in Sweden is less than 10%, society is ready for such a change.
The Central Bank of Thailand is doing the same and plans to start using a currency called the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as soon as possible. Thailand is also meeting with Central Banks in different parts of the world and ensuring that the technology it uses becomes a standard for interbank and cross-border transactions. On the other hand, El Salvador declared in June 2022 that it recognizes Bitcoin as a legal currency.
The economic revolution that everyone has been waiting for may begin in “third world” countries. Because these countries are aware that they cannot compete in any way in terms of Fiat currencies: the players of the current economic system are already established, and if you are not invited, you have no place at the table. But cryptocurrencies are starting a whole new economy, and everyone has a place in this system. Therefore, digital currencies could be the underlying thing for the economic liberation of third-world countries.
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