Ray Dalio holds Bitocoin, Carl Icahn will invest in Crypto and other news!

The past few days brought some interesting news showcasing how adoption of Cryptocurrencies is progressing and there is no turning back.

First it was Ray Dalio. For the ones who do not know who Ray Dalio is; he is a US billionaire and the founder of BridgeWater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund. In one of his latest interviews, he admitted that he holds some Bitcoins. According to the latest data his net worth is calculated at $17 billion. In his words, he considered holding Bitcoin as better than holding bonds. Considering this is said by the person behind a hedge fund that manages over $140 billion, then you know that cryptocurrencies are on the right track. Furthermore, he suggested that the real threat of Cryptocurrencies are their success, because due to their success governments could move and increase regulations or outright try to ban them as they compete with treasury bonds.

Then, it was the turn of Carl Icahn, the real investment mogul and former crypto sceptic. In the past the 85-years-old billionaire has been quite critical to cryptocurrencies calling them ridiculous. He is not the first to make an U-turn though and embrace them on live TV. In an interview with Bloomberg he admitted that cryptocurrencies can serve as a store of value to battle inflation and that he expects to get involved in a relatively big way, naming the amount at $1 billion to $1 and a half billion.

Third news worth noting is that PayPal has decided to expand the features it offers for the holders of cryptocurrencies in their PayPal accounts. During the Consensus 2021 event, a PayPal high executive leading the Blockchain, crypto and digital currencies unit admitted that they will add a feature to allow withdrawal of cryptocurrencies in 3rd party wallets. Until now, Paypal users could buy and sell cryptocurrencies in their PayPal accounts, but they could not transfer them in other wallets, limiting the usage and experience with cryptocurrencies. Until now, users who wanted to transfer their cryptocurrencies had to sell them for cash and either withdraw that from their PayPal accounts or use that cash to purchase items they wanted to buy through Paypal.

Last, Apple is also looking to go the crypto direction. Personally, I think this was well over-due, thinking on the moves towards crypto that other tech competitors such as Facebook and Amazon have made, with the first working on its Libra / Diem token while the latter planning to launch at some point an Amazon digital token that consumers can use to purchase products from the Amazon marketplace and other services it offers. Fintech has jumped head on into crypto, and a foray of Apple into this domain, could further boost the company's image and stock valuation. In the end of the day, allowing for the alternative payment methods like cryptocurrencies is a no brainer that all major companies will adopt at some point.