Are we focusing on the wrong market in crypto?

[Natalim]

Most headlines talk about ETFs, Wall Street adoption, and U.S. regulations… but what if the real crypto story is in developing countries? In places like Argentina, Nigeria, and even here in the Philippines, people use crypto for survival -  fighting inflation, sending remittances, and daily expenses.

So here’s the question: is the future of crypto shaped by Wall Street investors, or by ordinary people in weaker economies who actually use it?

What do you think?

https://cointelegraph.com/news/wrong-crypto-market

The US and EU are looking the wrong way
Compare the above with the US and EU, where Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds, institutional custody and regulatory turf wars usually dominate discussions about digital assets.

This is a misreading of the global landscape. These issues may matter for major financial markets, but they do little for the unbanked in one part of the world or the remittance sender and gig worker in another.

[Oshosondy]

In countries with devaluing local currencies, they can use stable coins that are backed by US dollar to hedge against inflation. This is happening in countries like Argentina and Nigeria. But crypto is also still useful in developed countries like United States because not only fiat backed stable coins are cryptocurrencies.

[Natalim]

In countries with devaluing local currencies, they can use stable coins that are backed by US dollar to hedge against inflation. This is happening in countries like Argentina and Nigeria. But crypto is also still useful in developed countries like United States because not only fiat backed stable coins are cryptocurrencies.

But the point of the topic is comparing whether developed countries are using adoption more than developing ones. The real purpose of crypto is adoption - investment is only secondary, since price growth comes from demand created by adoption. And so far, it’s the smaller countries that are showing what real adoption looks like, not the ETFs.

ETFs are just paper exposure. Real adoption happens on the ground, when people actually use crypto in their daily lives.

[john_egbert]

In countries with devaluing local currencies, they can use stable coins that are backed by US dollar to hedge against inflation. This is happening in countries like Argentina and Nigeria. But crypto is also still useful in developed countries like United States because not only fiat backed stable coins are cryptocurrencies.

In countries with more funds they mostly look at the reserves / options to incorporate crypto in their day-to-go operations.

It's not as good as adopting crypto itself without tying it back to fiat, but alas, it's still a progress.

[tbct_mt2]

Most headlines talk about ETFs, Wall Street adoption, and U.S. regulations… but what if the real crypto story is in developing countries? In places like Argentina, Nigeria, and even here in the Philippines, people use crypto for survival -  fighting inflation, sending remittances, and daily expenses.

It's not wrong and news is about things happened or happening in all nations, just released different news at different times.

Bitcoin is for you and for the others, in a same nation you are living in or in other countries. There are news about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption as well as regulation but they make less noise, less effects than news from big nations. It's explainable because big nations with bigger economies can have greater impacts and it's just true in any industry, not limited to blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

Smaller countries (in economy) have to be affected by policies from bigger nations, and it's how the world work fundamentally. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency can not change that while it can gives smaller nations and their people opportunities to improve their life wealth and quality.

[Sim_card]

Of course, those that needs bitcoin the more are those poor countries with bad economy and a weak fiat currency. Government of these countries can use bitcoin as a strategy reserve. While citizens in these countries who are not living from hand to mouth can use their extra funds to buy bitcoin and safe their savings from losing its purchasing power overtime. All fiat currency are prone to depreciate in value overtime which is why stablecoin isn't the best to hold value overtime.

[lionheart78]

So here’s the question: is the future of crypto shaped by Wall Street investors, or by ordinary people in weaker economies who actually use it?

What do you think?

I believe it is both shaped by Wall Street investors and ordinary people.  Any kind of adoption is welcome in a growing industry.  In a developing country, I only see them utilize new technology to take advantage of the opportunity given by it.  There is no difference in how people on Wall Street engage in it, since both are for profit, just in a different approach.

If both sides prosper and develop isn't it a good thing for Bitcoin?

[Dunamisx]

So here’s the question: is the future of crypto shaped by Wall Street investors, or by ordinary people in weaker economies who actually use it?

If you understand the reason why bitcoin remained a decentralized digital currency, then you may not have been saying all these, these same countries and set of people you're referring to are not all investors of bitcoin, taking US for instance, while none of the developed countries as you have mentioned has even supported the adoption of bitcoin as a legal tender, so what are we saying, the wall street are only discussing about what they have invested and seen regarding the price movement.

Can you imagine on the number of investors that are individuals holding across the world, we made a number to constitutes more than the whales we have, the future of bitcoin lies on everyone's hand, if it continues the same way it started being trusted and profitable, its adoption, relevance and value will always increases.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

I think there are no single area that crypto could have focused. And I think this is the beauty of it, just like what the OP said, if could fight inflation in some developing or 3rd world countries that have problems economically life devaluation or inflation.

So it just shows the adaptability of crypto here, there could still be global narrative like adoption. Wall Street might be using it as what we have seen in this version of the bull run as a "legitimate" investment arm and so many wealthy people are into it. But the end of it all, it's all about financial freedom, when traditional systems fails.

[HONDACD125]

I think it's a combination of both. The crypto economy needs both things; big firms and companies, and influential people talking about it in a positive manner or adopting it so that other people start trusting and it boosts adoption, which as a result will make the value of the whole market higher over time. People whether from developing countries or developed countries using cryptocurrencies as a source of income or a daily usage currency are important for the market because it keeps the cryptocurrencies circulating which is also very important.

If we don't have these headlines and news about big firms adopting Bitcoin, or there ETFs being approved and used which is onboarding more institutional investors, we won't have big boosts for its adoption, so they play a vital role. This is the reason why I think we shouldn't separate these things, because as long as it's related to cryptocurrencies, it's all about the same market, just different places, different subjects, different use cases. That's all.

[henry_of_skalitz]

I think there are no single area that crypto could have focused. And I think this is the beauty of it, just like what the OP said, if could fight inflation in some developing or 3rd world countries that have problems economically life devaluation or inflation.

So it just shows the adaptability of crypto here, there could still be global narrative like adoption. Wall Street might be using it as what we have seen in this version of the bull run as a "legitimate" investment arm and so many wealthy people are into it. But the end of it all, it's all about financial freedom, when traditional systems fails.

It's the freedom in general, I agree.

We just choose where want to learn / do more for ourselves, that's the best thing about it

[avp2306]

In countries with devaluing local currencies, they can use stable coins that are backed by US dollar to hedge against inflation. This is happening in countries like Argentina and Nigeria. But crypto is also still useful in developed countries like United States because not only fiat backed stable coins are cryptocurrencies.

But the point of the topic is comparing whether developed countries are using adoption more than developing ones. The real purpose of crypto is adoption - investment is only secondary, since price growth comes from demand created by adoption. And so far, it’s the smaller countries that are showing what real adoption looks like, not the ETFs.

ETFs are just paper exposure. Real adoption happens on the ground, when people actually use crypto in their daily lives.

Provably the common situation people see is those investment made by those rich countries since this is always been highlighted in news. But for sure that lots of people in their country use the same as what you have mention since crypto is flexible.

Maybe what you have seen is that but people could actually select on what they want to happen.

Don't get surprised about investment narrative flowing in Wall Street since they are known for that matters.

[xmrhopium]

Most headlines talk about ETFs, Wall Street adoption, and U.S. regulations… but what if the real crypto story is in developing countries? In places like Argentina, Nigeria, and even here in the Philippines, people use crypto for survival -  fighting inflation, sending remittances, and daily expenses.

So here’s the question: is the future of crypto shaped by Wall Street investors, or by ordinary people in weaker economies who actually use it?

What do you think?

This is a misreading of the global landscape. These issues may matter for major financial markets, but they do little for the unbanked in one part of the world or the remittance sender and gig worker in another.

To be honest, I don't think these crypto things are helping people or growing the economy. People just buying some random coins from exchanges hoping for selling high and take some profit from it. But when the price declines, they get feared and as the price even drops down little further, they sell all (everything), thinking the markets is a damn scam. Just look at the hype around NFT's back then, people lost bunch of their hard earned money from it. Bitcoin has a reason so it is sustaining still easily, and I can sense that Bitcoin will probably be the only one standing alone in the market.

We still have many countries in the world have banned crypto things government imprison those funds guilty of trading these coins in the name of money laundering. Look at that, mainly those coins are created by the US developers or some countries, but, they buying some themselves and spreads news across social media, is that important? why would they share(promote) these coins on social media if they had real future value? what are the utilities do these coins have? Do Facebook, Youtube, Google, Microsoft, Amazon.....accepts such coins from their customers? why they can't let their customers pay thru the form of crypto medium? Why do coin developers accumulate their own some generated coins for themselves?.

The US creates a hype, launches new coins weekly, quarterly or yearly, not only US develops coins but other countries develops coins too, but the people trust the US government more and follow their actions & (trends). Many exchanges accept worldwide users (their customers) but are headquartered in the US, regulating and manipulating peoples to stay in the system, for the long term, making chances to rug pull as much as possible.  

Do you buy these coins is because of those so called whale buying? Trump actions/making announcements? government bodies movement, spread of those news from the influencers recommending (promising high returns)? or have a damn high future. I’ve known about Bitcoin very long, bought a small amount at the end around, sold some for profit, and again bought and sold, and then quit altogether. I did this even though the government have banned crypto in my country. So, what contribution did I make to my country’s economy? Did I pay taxes? No.

whatever the people think, I guess most people who are trading/buying/holding some crypto coins believes it's going to change the traditional money exchanging system but I don't think it will go like that way. Each country already have their own currency, so will they accept single 1 coin worldwide?

Some say bitcoin will replace it but after few some decades, bitcoin will probably be traded more like a reserve assets, similar to what gold became. That would make it impossible for people like us to trade Bitcoin as a currency just like gold isn’t used as currency anymore but have some solid value.

That being said, crypto is still used in weaker economies for survival—fighting inflation, sending remittances, and covering daily basis expenses and other personal gains and bla bla.....but in the long run, governments are more likely to push their own Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC's)instead of letting random altcoins take over. This is the obvious.

So in the end, Bitcoin has the strongest reason to survive, but most other coins are just hype and built for the rug pull.

[purple_sparkles]

In countries with devaluing local currencies, they can use stable coins that are backed by US dollar to hedge against inflation. This is happening in countries like Argentina and Nigeria. But crypto is also still useful in developed countries like United States because not only fiat backed stable coins are cryptocurrencies.

But the point of the topic is comparing whether developed countries are using adoption more than developing ones. The real purpose of crypto is adoption - investment is only secondary, since price growth comes from demand created by adoption. And so far, it’s the smaller countries that are showing what real adoption looks like, not the ETFs.

ETFs are just paper exposure. Real adoption happens on the ground, when people actually use crypto in their daily lives.

Provably the common situation people see is those investment made by those rich countries since this is always been highlighted in news. But for sure that lots of people in their country use the same as what you have mention since crypto is flexible.

Maybe what you have seen is that but people could actually select on what they want to happen.

Don't get surprised about investment narrative flowing in Wall Street since they are known for that matters.

The reason people search for new, alternative ways to at least preserve their wealth at the same level is exactly this, the need to protect themselves. In countries where prices rise faster than people can adapt, it’s natural that these searches happen more quickly and for obvious reasons. Even people living in economically developed countries are now facing inflation as well as various kinds of government levies, which worsen their financial situation, and therefore they too are becoming more interested in alternative sources of income and ways to preserve their financial stability.There is truth in this, the worse the economic situation in a country, the more people will pay attention to cryptocurrency.

[fikrett]

Provably the common situation people see is those investment made by those rich countries since this is always been highlighted in news. But for sure that lots of people in their country use the same as what you have mention since crypto is flexible.

Maybe what you have seen is that but people could actually select on what they want to happen.

Don't get surprised about investment narrative flowing in Wall Street since they are known for that matters.

It would be easy for them to push their narratives, but just in a blockchain wrapping.

They know their bizz in that regard.

[Slow death]

when we read news like this:

Publicly traded companies have now collectively accumulated over 1,000,000 BTC, in a historic milestone in Bitcoin adoption. This stash represents nearly 5% of Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million supply, as institutional conviction around the asset continues to grow.

https://cryptopotato.com/wall-streets-bitcoin-grab-public-firms-now-control-over-1-million-btc/

We realize how the rich are the ones who are buying the most Bitcoin, so even if we see a country like Nigeria, its people buying Bitcoin to make some payment (I don't know if they can actually buy anything with Bitcoin), the impact will not be greater than when these rich people buy large amounts of Bitcoin.

Therefore, we need these Wall Street guys because they can bring the rich into this market and consequently can make governments go easy on the cryptocurrency market. If we didn't have these Wall Street guys and the rich buying in large quantities, we would have a very low level of adoption and the price would still be well below $30,000.

[Agbamoni]

But the point of the topic is comparing whether developed countries are using adoption more than developing ones. The real purpose of crypto is adoption - investment is only secondary, since price growth comes from demand created by adoption. And so far, it’s the smaller countries that are showing what real adoption looks like, not the ETFs.

I get your question OP. I tend to agree with you, that the real adoption is the usage. Only the rich or financial buoyant individuals can rely on stable coins like USDT to hedge against inflation. Not someone who is trying to survive, perhaps that is the point Oshosondy is missing. Many individuals in weaker economies are running in cryptocurrency for survival and that is the fact. Except for big companies that holds Bitcoin, they do not really make use of the network frequently to how these counties do.

[Russlenat]

I think everyone who uses Bitcoin has their own purpose. Some may use it for regular transactions, while others hold it long term because they believe the value will rise with adoption. And regardless of how many Bitcoins are locked up in supply because people are holding, transactions are still possible, the only effect is the price might increase.

Think of it this way: does holding affect adoption in a good way? The answer is yes, because it gives people confidence to use Bitcoin when they see big companies and investors trusting it and buying huge amounts. At the end of the day, it depends on which country we live in and our financial status, we have the freedom to use Bitcoin however we want.

As long as there’s demand, it means adoption is happening.

[betswift]

I think everyone who uses Bitcoin has their own purpose. Some may use it for regular transactions, while others hold it long term because they believe the value will rise with adoption. And regardless of how many Bitcoins are locked up in supply because people are holding, transactions are still possible, the only effect is the price might increase.

Think of it this way: does holding affect adoption in a good way? The answer is yes, because it gives people confidence to use Bitcoin when they see big companies and investors trusting it and buying huge amounts. At the end of the day, it depends on which country we live in and our financial status, we have the freedom to use Bitcoin however we want.

As long as there’s demand, it means adoption is happening.

We are just not there yet for the adoption to be coming to the lower levels, so to speak.

As for now, regulations come from the suits for the suits (mostly), but in the future, who knows how it will be.

I hope, of course, for all the opportunities for the people to use crypto / BTC freely

[Hewlet]

So here’s the question: is the future of crypto shaped by Wall Street investors, or by ordinary people in weaker economies who actually use it?

people from weaker economy actually use it as what? an edge against inflation? an asset that promises them returns in the long run or what? what is now the case is that different individuals and nation adopt bitcoin specifically for the sake of the problem it promises to solve. using Nigeria as a case study for the way people in the developing nation make use of bitcoin, they consider it more of an asset that promises a return on investment and also use it as a form of transacting across different borders which is part of the main goal of bitcoin. other nations can adopt it differently based on their needs and that only tells of the multi dimensional usefulness of bitcoin.