Payments And Cryptocurrencies In The Corona Crisis

Today’s review of exciting contributions from the international financial scene focuses on two (related) topics:

• Payments
• Cryptocurrencies

The future of payment

In the course of the corona pandemic to date, more and more consumers are making digital payments, which seems logical, given that online retail is booming. The use of cash is declining, contactless is the trend. Many consumers also want simplified options for managing their finances on a single (mobile) platform.

Current payment trends

Electronic payment methods are on the rise, not just credit and debit cards, but bank transfers, direct deposits, and online payments as well. The pandemic has accelerated the transition from “physical” to “virtual” banking with a large number of institutions and companies offering virtual cards along with customer accounts. It is worth taking a look at some key developments going forward.

Technology for the future of cash

Cash remains an important payment and money instrument that occupies a dominant position in the markets around the world. What if digitization could be used to simplify cash and make it cheaper – instead of working to get rid of it? There are a number of technologies under the name CashTech that offer precisely this perspective.

Also Read: Online Investment: Opportunities & Pitfalls

PayPal wants to be a super app

Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, says the company hopes to become the next super app for the world’s banking, with built-in features for mobile payments, shopping, investing, saving, budgeting and crypto on a single platform, similar to what they did with AliPay in China. What does this mean for traditional banks?

Cryptos on the rise

It may be a coincidence that the Bitcoin price reached new highs in the wake of the Corona crisis. In any case, the hype about cryptocurrencies has rekindled and central banks play an important role here, as they are vehemently discussing the introduction of state digital currencies.

Is the crypto revolution coming now?

PayPal, Square, Mastercard, Visa, and most recently Elon Musk with Tesla rely on Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. Is this the breakthrough now? Or are skeptics right who say Bitcoin does not play a role in the portfolios of institutional investors or private investors. There is no currency, no unit of account, no scalable means of payment, and a very volatile store of value that is also easy to manipulate?

Ethereum versus Bitcoin

Ethereum is similar to Bitcoin in the sense that they are both cryptocurrencies – not centrally issued digital currencies. The main thing that sets Ethereum apart from Bitcoin is smart contracts.