A recent report from Visa and Caslte Island Ventures noted that monthly stablecoin transaction volume has reached $450 billion, accounting for about half of the $1 trillion in total volume processed by Visa in a single month. Among them, countries such as Türkiye, Argentina and Nigeria are widely using stablecoins as local convenient payment and deposit channels. This data shows that the blockchain technology pioneered by Bitcoin is about to usher in unprecedented large-scale adoption.
Wings of Liberty Rising
Initially, Bitcoin was born as an antagonist to the 2008 global financial tsunami. It not only pried open the gradually collapsing traditional financial system, but also created the possibility of "freedom" for human civilization; nevertheless, its value was still Limited to a small subculture. Today, the price of Bitcoin has reached $60,000, an increase of 100 times over the past decade and 6 times over the past five years, and is often printed in financial publications along with gold, S&P 500 and other U.S. stock indexes. It can be seen that Bitcoin has become one of the common sense in the financial field.
This phenomenon is naturally traceable, and the most powerful support is the approval of the listing of the US Bitcoin spot ETF. Multiple ETF issuers collectively control more than 60 billion US dollars worth of Bitcoin, indirectly creating a new market for Wall Street. Daily Bitcoin trading volume exceeds $1 billion. However, Forbes believes that the mainstream adoption of this series of blockchain technologies may have different impacts on Bitcoin.
Source: CoinGlass Bitcoin spot ETF has a total market value of more than $60 billion
Bitcoin ETF Conflict with Self-Custody
The launch of the U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF undoubtedly provides institutional investors with a familiar way to enter the market. However, this move is actually contrary to the original self-custody concept of Bitcoin and may make Bitcoin unique such as asset autonomy and privacy. Some value propositions become no longer attractive. What’s even more ironic is that Wall Street, which has the most market influence, chose the traditional financial system that should have been eliminated to manage Bitcoin. This is in sharp contrast to the decentralization and anti-government spirit when Bitcoin was born, and reflects the cost of moving towards the mainstream. ──Ideological compromise.
Stablecoins replace Bitcoin as mainstream
Although Bitcoin is still the best representative of cryptocurrency, the application of stablecoins has surpassed Bitcoin and become the main tool of the crypto payment system. Based on the value reserve of legal currency (mostly $USD), stablecoins provide convenient payment channels for all parts of the world; at the same time, stablecoins are quite easy to review by the government, and most stablecoin smart contracts have the authority to freeze user accounts. This obviously has nothing to do with the decentralization and anti-government spirit of blockchain.
The gradual dilution of privacy claims
As the "custodial" trend gradually becomes mainstream, Bitcoin's anonymity and privacy are also encountering more challenges. From exchanges to ETF issuers, most Bitcoin providers hire blockchain surveillance (Blockchain Surveillance) companies to let them review the identity and behavior of customers through the node data operated by the provider to comply with government regulations as much as possible .
Although Bitcoin enthusiasts such as Michael Saylor and Trump support Bitcoin as a store of value, they are clearly at odds with early supporters of Bitcoin's privacy, anonymity, and liberalism; and this development trend It has also led to the prosecution and arrest of some developers of blockchain privacy tools.
Freedom and adoption, how to compromise?
The success of Bitcoin is of course inseparable from the strong support of the political and financial circles. Once a symbol of protest, Bitcoin is now part of the global financial system and recognized by governments, institutions and the public. However, the price of entering the mainstream is based on the compromise and challenge of its core concepts. This may also mean that Bitcoin’s spirit of decentralization and privacy is gradually declining. Although early Bitcoin supporters still emphasize freedom and privacy, as the price of Bitcoin rises, more and more investors (whether retail investors or Institutions) prefer to participate in the Bitcoin market through custodial tools rather than learning about self-hosted wallets or node technology.
Whether Bitcoin can retain its early core concepts while continuing to grow remains to be seen. However, judging from the increased global regulation of cryptocurrency, the development of Bitcoin and stablecoins will inevitably have more interactions with the traditional financial system and government scrutiny.
Further reading: Can Bitcoin rise to 13 million? The founder of MicroStrategy made a joke and shouted: Please take the orange pill and grab encrypted votes? Trump will serve as the spokesperson for the Bitcoin Summit and lead the Republican Party to support the currency circle!
