Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple continue to make headlines for their worst first-quarter price performances in history. Conversely, BitPay - the largest global blockchain payment provider - just closed $40 million in its extended Series B funding round.
Yet while Bitcoin payments are gaining traction in regions like Asia, there are still major challenges facing widespread adoption of cryptocurrency payments.
Dr. Michael Yuan of CyberMiles, an e-commerce smart contract platform, believes that most of the use cases for integrating cryptocurrency payments in Asia are still experimental.
While the development of cryptocurrency wallets and payments systems are moving ahead in Asia, there are two main challenges, Yuan told me. First, the technology is lagging. Bitcoin is often viewed as a terrible payment currency. It is very slow, very expensive, and fluctuates wildly. The Bitcoin lightning network went online last month and was a significant step in making Bitcoin a more suitable payment currency. Ironically, the Bitcoin price dropped a lot since lightning went online. The other problem is demand. Do people want to pay with Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. on a large enough scale?"
However, with these challenges in place, Yuan notes that credit cards are not as widely used in Asia as they are in other parts of the world. This provides ample opportunity for cryptocurrencies to act as viable forms of payment, given the right coin and market.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwolfson/2018/04/05/bitcoin-payments-in-asia-hold-strong-as-cryptocurrency-prices-continue-to-plummet/#29c044ce3b09
