Impact of Cryptocurrency in Global Economy Could Be Motivation for New Financial Order

“Money is not going to be the same forever and ever.” Those are the words of Marcus Swanepoel from a discussion with Express.co.uk, who is the co-founder of Luno. Even with a low bear market at the moment, the potential that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology hold right now are a game changer. In fact, some experts believe that the way these parts of the market are moving are the catalyst for real change in the financial world. Some even suggest that it could push the global economy into a new financial order.

Swanepoel continued, saying,

“I believe we happen to be sitting in the middle of one of these changes. I don’t know if it is going to be Bitcoin or Ethereum – or if it is going to happen in a hundred years or one year. But the future of money will involve some kind of global currency that is completely interoperable.”

Like any nascent technology, there are still naysayers that believe that cryptocurrency should be on the way out, like Nouriel Roubini. He stands by his belief that the industry is anti-establishment and libertarian and doesn’t agree that cryptocurrency is the natural progression of the financial world. He even posted a tweet that said,

“These crypto lunatics know nothing about money, banking finance, monetary policy. They have zero financial literacy. And they pretend to reinvent money. A solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. And a solution that is the return to the Stone Age of barter.”

Even with comments like these in the industry, Swanepoel believes that there’s no connection between the adoption of cryptocurrency and anti-government movements or anti-bank movements. However, it does have the power to show the world that it is time to move on in the technological aspect of the banking industry. He added,

“I am not anti-bank or anti-government. But if you think about the way the banking system was built, it was built for a non-digital age. There is nothing wrong with the existing financial system – it is probably just quite inefficient for the world we live in today.”

Swanepoel believes that the prices impact the public’s perception of how valuable cryptocurrency can be, even though it doesn’t actually change the asset. Still, rising prices are what traditional financiers are used to relying on to determine how good a stock is, so the connection makes sense for individuals without much knowledge of cryptocurrency. He explains,

“But the reality is, a lot of people at the moment are using it to speculate and invest and that means the Bitcoin price has quite a big influence on adoption.” Even when price sets them back, the way that it impacts cryptocurrency adoption in the rest of the world seems to be “a reality of life.”

The key to expanding the market and getting regulatory measures setup is to get more investors involved. As more investors come in, it will bring the market to an even higher level than before. Treasury Committee chair, Nicky Morgan, has said,

“Given the high price volatility, the hacking vulnerability of exchanges and the potential role in money laundering, the Treasury Committee strongly believes that regulation should be introduced. It's unsustainable for the Government and regulators to bumble along issuing feeble warnings to potential investors yet refrain from acting.”

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