There has been a quick evolution in the ways that cryptocurrencies are used. Transaction models are changing very quickly to adapt to mainstream technologies that everyday users are more familiar with.
In the past, even keeping Bitcoins safe and secure involved a series of complicated procedures. These complications extended to the effective use of Bitcoin, either as a medium of exchange, remittance purposes or any other use case. Let’s explore how crypto spending has evolved.
How Hard Was It To Spend Crypto?
A few years ago, scalability issues posed a huge threat to the existence of Bitcoin. As users grew, which amounted to a geometric increase in the rate of transactions that were happening on the network, delayed confirmations became a serious headache for Bitcoin users.
Anyone who is familiar with the behaviour of Bitcoin, especially how it relates to the price movement, will understand why delays in transaction confirmation are a big issue.
Bitcoin is very volatile. Its price can change by a significant amount in a very short period of time. Bitcoin fulfills and satisfies every other purpose as a peer-to-peer system of transaction. The fact that the value of a transaction has a high tendency of changing by a reasonable margin between the time of payment from one party to the time of confirmation after receipt by the other, was a discouraging factor for willing adopters.
Take for example, a Bitcoin holder decides to use the cryptocurrency to buy a cup of coffee which costs $5. He is served and immediately pays with $5 worth of Bitcoin. If there is a delay in the network and Bitcoin drops in price and the value of Bitcoin is sent to $4, who would bear the loss in value?
There have been instances where a transaction would last for over 24 hours before it gets confirmed, such scenarios complicated the situation.
Between 2018 and 2019, we can say that Bitcoin and the blockchain ecosystem have undergone much more evolution than the previous years put together. Just ahead of this period was the ICO era which saw a lot of money being introduced to the ecosystem through the various crowdfunding exercises that were carried out.
How Easy Is It To Spend Crypto?
Then came what can be described as a hibernation era, where most of the monies raised were being put into use in trying to develop systems that will enhance the industry. Now we are seeing numerous products being rolled out, making the use of crypto more flexible and adaptable with existing systems in the mainstream.
In solving the retail transaction bottleneck that was described above, tap has created a prepaid Mastercard and app. This innovation eliminates the uncertainties surrounding transaction confirmation delays and value delivery during transactions.
The tap system offers a seamless process where merchants and retailers will receive instant payment in their currency of denomination from crypto spenders. The interesting thing is that these merchants may not even be aware that the person paying is doing so using cryptocurrency. Therefore, we will be right to say that the crypto users are the ones with the most benefit in employing this technology.
Tap cards are not restricted by location or jurisdiction. They function perfectly anywhere that Mastercard is accepted. Transaction happens and value is exchanged immediately in the denominated fiat, while the backend settlement is taken care of by Mastercard.
In the space of one year, a lot has changed in the industry, illustrating the effective ways in how crypto spending has evolved. From jumping between exchanges in order to convert crypto to fiat and bearing multiple costs in fees while trying to get value, crypto users are now enjoying seamless transaction procedures that are convenient and devoid of any form of complications.
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