Cryptocurrencies are about to disrupt the world’s monetary ecosystem and could probably mark a new phase in the evolution of money. With only a decade of existence, the digital asset market has grown to over $364 billion as of press time. This upward trajectory is a result of Bitcoin and other initiatives that have popped up to further scale opportunities linked with distributed ecosystems. Notably, BTC has recorded over 8,700% ROI given its current trading price of $11,900; this is by far greater than any other asset class returns in the last ten years.

While it may seem like Bitcoin is the ‘too big to fail’ of the crypto ecosystem, niche innovations actually play a pivotal role in sustaining the leading digital currency. Today, there are over 43 million Bitcoin addresses, most of which are supported by fiat-to-crypto digital wallet providers. These stakeholders facilitate a number of functions including on-ramping newbies into the crypto network. Some have now gone to the extent of integrating crypto payment services for businesses and clients to settle seamlessly. As the world navigates COVID-19, this could actually mean a significant adoption phase for cryptocurrency.

The Holy Grail of Crypto Adoption

Fiat-to-crypto service providers like DAOWallet are among industry players making major moves in growing crypto adoption. This payment solution allows businesses to integrate an option for making purchases in crypto. Its cutting edge technology includes the online casino industry where an average of 337 BTC is placed as bets every second.

DAOWallet’s value proposition comes in as a digital wallet provider, which not only secures the private keys of transacting parties but also helps them hedge against the crypto market volatility through fixed rates, floating rates, or invoices that can be made using their own desired rates. DAOWallet generates a payment link with multiple crypto payment options. Following a successful payment, funds are credited to the user’s account immediately.

Interestingly, the underlying value of DAOWallet extends to other functions in emerging tech such as the use of data analytics to scale businesses. The platform’s analytics function allows service providers in the online gambling market to gain insights such as players’ internal and external environmental behavior. In doing so, they are able to increase their prospects of tailoring more efficient products and services to the growing demand. Though it may seem straightforward, the intrigues of supporting crypto payments are more complicated when it comes to issues regulation. DAOWallet’s internal infrastructure, however, leverages a security tool to carry out proper KYC and AML on both players and casinos looking to integrate and fund crypto payments through their API interface.

To function effectively, crypto-fiat gateways are being complemented by existing financial service providers. Recent months have in fact seen a change of tone with the U.S Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) giving a green light to banks looking into crypto custody business. Furthermore, Facebook’s Libra proposal appears to have set a new mood for tech giants and governments eyeing a debut in the crypto scene. MasterCard for instance was a member of the Libra organization before it left to embark on its own crypto-focused initiatives. The New York based multinational has since launched an accelerator program targeting to increase crypto card issuance.

Raj Dhamodharan, the firm’s VP of Digital Assets, highlighted these contributions to crypto networks in a recent partnership announcement with Wirex,

“The cryptocurrency market continues to mature, and MasterCard is driving it forward, creating safe and secure experiences for consumers and businesses in today’s digital economy.”

Conclusion

With big boys in tech and financial services placing odds on decentralization, the concept of crypto payments might soon be another norm in global markets. Innovations are now narrowing down on micropayment solutions as more people understand the advantages of using crypto compared to fiat. Today, one can walk into popular convenience stores or food outlets that accept Visa or MasterCard and initiate a crypto card payment as long as the issuer has been approved to launch such services. Going by these developments, cryptocurrencies are no longer driven by a pure speculative hype but the fundamentals when it comes to integration with traditional networks.

It is this change of philosophy that has seen other initiatives like decentralized finance (DeFi) gain a platform in the crypto industry. Though still at its early stages, this ecosystem is basically a replica of the traditional financial markets and includes complex assets not limited to futures and derivatives whose underlying is a single cryptocurrency or basket of digital assets. It has risen the ranks to record a total locked value (TVL) of $4.7 billion in just a few months. Notably, this is another area where fiat-crypto gateways are setting the crypto adoption pace. Ideally, staking crypto assets for interest and other incentives in DeFi would require one to fund their digital wallets hence their role as a ‘Holy Grail of Crypto Adoption’.