The banks are in trouble and they know it.
If there’s one thing technology is good at, it’s changing the status quo. You’ve no doubt heard about and witnessed it with ridesharing platforms like Uber. There are all kinds of stories about that company taking business away from traditional cab companies. Likewise, companies like AirBnB are disrupting the hotel industry.
And while sweeping, sudden changes in technology have affected the travel and transport industries, a more quiet, subtle shift is also happening in finance.
Think about your bank. When was the last time you went into an actual branch? When was the last time you spoke to a teller, filled out a form, and withdrew cash?
Beyond that, when was the last time you wrote a check?
You might even be like a growing number of people who never handle cash, and instead use a card for everything.
But now, even that is being challenged.
You’ve Seen This Movie, but it has Some New Scenes
Just in the past month or so, you’ve probably heard a lot about the comeback of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It’d be easy to say that a lot of the talk reminds of the crypto run-up of 2013 to 2017, but there are aspects that are different this time.
One of the biggest changes is that it is far more common for businesses to accept cryptos as a form of payment now. Big companies like Subway, PayPal, and Overstock.com all take Bitcoin.
Likewise, it isn’t unheard of for small mom-and-pop stores all over major cities to accept cryptocurrencies in the same manner.
People are now able to do their shopping and make important purchases without involving a bank. Banks are noticing it and trying to come up with plans for dealing with it. Corporations are noticing it and trying to come up with plans to get in on the action.
Just this past week, Facebook unveiled Libra, its own cryptocurrency. A lot has been said about the currency, its legitimacy, and its ultimate place in the grand scheme of the crypto universe. But whatever the coin ends up doing in the long term, the fact that it exists at all shows that cryptocurrency isn’t going anywhere.
Bitcoin and its imitators were started with the idea of a decentralized currency. Facebook’s Libra, at least for now, is not as decentralized, but the company hopes to change that in the future. Whatever happens, however, Facebook won’t be the last company to try and get in on the trend. It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon coming up with their own versions of Libra. These alternative payment methods would make it so their customers can pay for things while taking away the ability of big banks to collect transaction fees.
This fear was echoed in a UK banking report way back in 2015, which stated:
With only an estimated nearly $4 billion bitcoins currently in circulation, the dream may be some way from becoming reality. And yet, the risks should not be ignored. Bitcoin users can handle many of their daily payments needs themselves, without the need for interaction with banks, and avoiding the need to incur bank fees. In the same way, value stored in PayPal accounts moves outside of the bank’s payment systems, depriving banks of valuable payments revenue.
As digital and crypto-currencies gain traction, the threat to bank’s free-income streams will grow. So, as BNP Paribas research analyst Johann Palychata suggested in a recent note to investors, banks must invest time and energy in understanding how best to use the technology behind principles like bitcoin “…before other players step in to make that decision for them”.
They see the writing is on the wall… that more people will be using cryptocurrency in the very near future.
How the Return of Cryptos Helps You
Like I said earlier, Bitcoin has seen something of a comeback in the past month or so, to the point where it went from around $7,700 per coin in mid-May to around $9,400 per coin earlier this week.
If you didn’t own any Bitcoin before the cryptocurrency market famously crashed in 2018, then this surge hasn’t done much to help you.
Thanks to the work of one small company in Sweden, however, that doesn’t matter. This company has worked out a way that you can own Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and many other different types of crypto for a much more reasonable cost of $1.
How is that possible?
Nick Hodge investigated it himself and has the answers for you in his latest report.
Take a look and find out for yourself. It’s a little-known opportunity now, but as cryptos become more popular, more people are going to learn about this company.
Don’t get left in the cold this time around.
Keep your eyes open,
Ryan Stancil
Contributing Editor, Outsider Club
