Cryptocurrencies have come a long way since the initial hype and subsequent apprehension surrounding the emergence of Bitcoin. Within a year of Bitcoin’s initial release, several other cryptocurrencies began to pop up. Fast forward a few years later and the term cryptocurrency is no longer shrouded in myth. Many cryptocurrencies are becoming widely accepted as legitimate systems of transaction, and they show no signs of slowing down.
As decentralized currencies, cryptocurrencies have been met with both praise and disapproval. While they have the potential to loosen government currency monopolies and offer cheaper digital transactions, they also have the ability to facilitate crime and black market activity. As a result, many governments have made it a task to do away with cryptos. However, despite the fact that they have become notorious for their drawbacks, cryptocurrencies haven’t lost popularity among ordinary citizens or the global elite.
Frantic Interest in Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency has gained interest from both individuals and governments. According to a CoinDesk report, the Bulgarian government seized around 200,000 bitcoins during an organized crime clampdown in 2017. At the time, the bitcoin was valued at $3.3 billion. Many other governments have seized cryptocurrency and auctioned it off over the years. A leaked UN report even indicated that North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, ordered hackers to steal millions from cryptocurrency exchanges.
If that’s not enough to show how sought-after cryptocurrency can be, then how about the fact that Dadiani Fine Art partnered with a blockchain platform to sell Andy Warhol’s work for cryptocurrency? According to one of the art curators behind the mission, wealthy clients were interested in buying “enormous amounts of bitcoin”. She goes on to say that the reason people are interested in purchasing large amounts of bitcoin is to avoid slippage, the difference between the expected and the actual price of trade.
Not only are the wealthy deeply interested in acquiring cryptocurrency; they are also determined to protect it. In 2018, Bloomberg reported that the global elite were keeping their bitcoin in secure vaults across three different continents. Security measures for these vaults include multi-factor authentication, segregated offline computers and heavy surveillance. At the time of the report’s publishing, there was said to be $10 billion worth of bitcoin in these bunkers. So why would millionaires and billionaires invest so much in keeping their crypto deep underground? And why is everyone so determined to get their hands on as much as possible?
The Value and Future of Crypto
One popular predication about the future of cryptocurrency is that everyone will start to use it. In fact, many believe that cryptocurrencies may become a dominating system of transaction in the near future potentially replacing fiat currencies altogether. Once they take over the global economy, it could be assumed that they will increase in value. This may be the reason the wealthy are so desperately hoarding their crypto.
Many consider digital currencies a reliable measure of value across countries and continents. As a result, they have the potential to skyrocket in value over the next few years. Recognizing the fact that crypto could replace fiat currencies, the global elite may be in a race against time to maintain their own wealth should this change present itself.
If cryptocurrencies do achieve this feat, they will also carry the flow of money all over the world. This means that crypto will be able to determine an individual’s wealth the same way that fiat currencies already do. If it weren’t an investment to acquire and hoard large amounts of crypto, it would make little sense for the wealthiest individuals and institutions to do so. Instead, we see increasing evidence of their interest in it, and that serves as an indicator of where digital currencies are headed.
