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U.K. Post Office Now Allows Users Purchase Bitcoin Through Its App

Bitcoin adoption is indeed ramping up in recent months. From retail outlets announcing users can checkout using their bitcoins to El Salvador officially accepting bitcoin as a legal tender, there is no doubt that bitcoin is headed for mainstream adoption. Coming hot on the heels of recent news of adoption is a peculiar situation with the U.K. Post Office.

A report from The Telegraph said that the Post Office was allowing the purchase of bitcoin through a new partnership. Swarm Markets, a German-based and regulated crypto exchange, entered into this partnership with the U.K. Post Office. It will allow users that have verified their identities through the Post Office EasyID app to directly access and purchase cryptocurrencies from Swarm’s websites.

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Users will be able to purchase cryptocurrency vouchers with just a few clicks, which they can then go on to redeem for cryptos like Bitcoin. This has worried financial markets experts, who have warned that cryptocurrencies are very risky to invest in. Thus, users should be presented with a clear and concise warning when they are purchasing them. Concerns were also raised about associating assets as volatile as cryptocurrencies with the Post Office.

“When people buy cryptocurrencies, they should be sold with a very clear wealth warning: that you could get back a lot less than you purchased. It’s one thing buying crypto online via an investment platform, as that’s what the audience expects, but you don’t associate this with the Post Office.” – Warren Shute, Chartered Financial Planner

BTC trading north of $45K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Swarm Markets believes that this partnership will make it easier for people to get started in crypto. “By making it easy and safe to buy real Bitcoin and Ethereum, more people now have the option to get started in crypto,” said Phillip Pieper, Co-Founder of Swarm Markets.

Buying Bitcoin In The U.K.

Just like any other region, there are numerous ways available for residents to purchase Bitcoin in the U.K. Exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Gemini are already operating and offering these services to U.K. residents, along with a host of other crypto exchanges.

Last month, payments giant PayPal announced that it was now expanding its crypto options to U.K. citizens. Users are not able to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in their PayPal accounts. Although the ‘Checkout with Crypto’ feature which was made available to U.S. users was not included in this rollout. Nevertheless, this presented a new way for customers to get exposure to crypto. With PayPal allowing users to purchase as low as £1 worth of crypto.

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Speaking on the partnership with Swarm Markets, a spokesperson for the U.K. Post Office said, “Access to products and services are increasingly moving online and we’ve responded to this shift by launching our free-to-use app, Post Office EasyID. Allowing people to build their own secure digital identity on their smartphone and enabling them to easily control and prove who they are to whichever business they want to interact with.”

The U.K. Post Office will not receive a commission on the bitcoin and crypto bought through the EasyID app on Swarm Markets. But Swarm Markets is paying the Post Office for the usage of its ID verification software.

Featured image from eSeller365, chart from TradingView.com

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Crypto Is Set To Dominate Australian Financial Industry In Less Than 10 Years

Crypto experts have said that Australia’s finance industry is set to be dominated by cryptocurrency by 2029. Finder’s annual cryptocurrency report shows that crypto is set to replace the traditional finance industry in Australia. The Finder’s report brought to light some interesting facts about cryptocurrency adoption in the country. These, experts say, put it on track for widespread adoption in the country.

Australians Are Turning Their Attention To Crypto

In Australia, 17% of the population have said that they own some kind of cryptocurrency. The most popular being the top coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum. A further 13% of Australians said that they plan to purchase and own crypto within the next year. A reported 9% of Australians surveyed said they owned bitcoin. While 8% said that they hold Ethereum. Dogecoin came in third with 5% saying they held the meme coin. And Bitcoin Cash was held by a reported 4% of the people surveyed.

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The biggest group that held the most crypto was Gen Z. Gen Z are classified as people who were born starting the year 1997 to the present. Which puts the oldest Gen Zs at 24 years old. 31% of this group confirmed that they held some type of cryptocurrency. Showing a growing trend among young people who are more inclined to invest in digital assets than in traditional assets. Compared to the younger group, crypto ownership is down among older investors.

“If the pace of education continues to grow, combined with easier access to cryptocurrencies, we should expect to see it as a dominant financial industry by the end of the decade. Especially among younger generations who have never had meaningful access to traditional finance.”

Cryptocurrencies Set To Explode

The impact of cryptos on most economies in the world cannot be understated. Still only in its early stages, crypto has resonated with millions of people around the world. Countries with weaker currencies have seen more adoption. As citizens use cryptocurrencies as an alternative store of value compared to their fiat currencies. Traditional finance products now have to face an even bigger threat, decentralized finance.

With fewer young people getting exposure to traditional financial markets, they are turning to the crypto market as a way to invest. Its ease of use and complete ownership of the assets have often been cited as the major reason for investing in the assets. And this is why young people are drawn to it.

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“As the technology develops and there are easier ways to access it, like in the Finder app where you can buy Bitcoin and Ethereum in a few clicks, I believe the growth in cryptocurrency will explode,” said James Edwards, Finder’s cryptocurrency expert.

Edwards went on to add, “Many Aussies are now much more clear on the benefits cryptocurrencies offer, such as Bitcoin being a hedge against fiat currency and inflation. Play the ability to earn interest on assets through things like stablecoins and decentralized finance on Ethereum.”

Crypto total market cap heading towards $2.3 trillion | Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com
Featured image from Bitcoinist, chart from TradingView.com

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Deloitte Survey Shows 76% Of Finance Execs Think Physical Money Is Nearing Its End

A recent survey from Deloitte that collated data from 1,280 senior finance executives in 10 locations across the world produced interesting results regarding the blockchain industry. This survey is Deloitte’s fourth annual Global Blockchain Survey, which focuses on the financial services industry (FSI). Findings from the survey show that there is a need for the industry to turn towards product modernization and distribution in order to see economic growth.

When polled, 76% of the 1,280 respondents said they believed that the end of physical money is near. And that digital assets were set to replace fiat currencies in the next five to 10 years. This will obviously have a significant impact on the financial services industry, but the respondents remained optimistic about the revenue potential of both blockchain and crypto, and digital currencies.

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“The Deloitte ‘Global Blockchain Survey’ shows that the foundation of banking has been fundamentally outlived and financial services industry players must redefine themselves and find innovative ways to create economic growth in the future of money.” – Linda Paw-czuk, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and global and U.S. blockchain and digital assets leader

Blockchain Is Already Mainstream, Says Survey

The survey also showed that the majority – nearly 80% – of global FSI leaders believed that digital assets are going to be very/somewhat important to their various industries in the next two years. They also see both digital assets and blockchain technologies as a strategic priority now and in the future.

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73% of respondents admitted that a recurring fear was that their various organizations would lose competitive advantage if they failed to adopt digital assets and blockchain technology. Findings also showed that 81% of respondents agreed that blockchain technology is highly scalable, and according to them, has already achieved mainstream adoption.

The world is no doubt headed towards a completely digital world. Things like paper currencies are likely to be obsolete in the near future. Hence, financial services industries need to shift to new business models for revenue generation. Digital assets will be used to simplify payments. And 43% of respondents said that these new payment options represent a “very important” role for digital assets.

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Richard Walker, a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. financial services industry blockchain leader, had some thoughts on this. “As digital asset disruption rapidly changes the marketplace, global financial services are striving to reinvent themselves, creating businesses to generate new sources of revenue.” Walker went on to add, “Opportunities for real change in several areas of the global financial markets exist for those players that explore new ways to harness the power of blockchain technology and digital assets to reimagine their business modes.”

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Coinbase Adds Option To Buy Crypto With Apple Pay, Google Pay To Follow

Crypto continues to see tremendous growth these past weeks. Prices of coins have soared across the board as sentiments continue to skew in the positive. Investors seem to be pouring back into the market, with the market showing patterns that indicate current buy pressure trends are higher than sell pressures. Accumulation patterns continue to show that investors are hoarding their coins instead of selling, as exchange reserves continue to plummet across the board.

More good news continues to rock the market as crypto prices remain in an uptrend. Coinbase recently announced that its users can now buy coins on the platform using Apple Pay. This method was previously unavailable to customers. But Coinbase had, in June, earlier said that users were now able to use their Coinbase crypto card on Apple Pay and Google Pay.

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This was a welcome development as it opened up new ways that crypto enthusiasts could use their crypto cards out in the world. But there still was no option to use Apple Pay to buy crypto, until now.

Coinbase Adding More Payment Options

The move by Coinbase is part of its efforts to add more safe and secure ways for its users to buy crypto. Adding payment options like Apple Pay ensures that users do not have to go through long processes just to get crypto-assets. And what’s more, Apple Pay remains one of the most trusted digital wallets presently.

Coinbase uses the information that is already linked to users’ Apple Pay to facilitate crypto purchases. This means that if a debit card is already added to a user’s Apple Pay wallet, then they can pay for crypto purchases using an Apple Pay option that will appear on Coinbase. The process works with any Apple Pay-enabled iOS device or through a Safari web browser.

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In addition to this comes the ability for users to get instant cashouts of up to $100,000 on a single transaction. Coinbase has made this option available for users on the platform on a 24-7 basis, which means that users will always have access to cashouts, and this process is instant. While bypassing high, uncapped fees that are charged to customers when using ACH to cash out, and also reduces the length of time required for a withdrawal to go through.

More Ways To Buy Crypto

In addition to Apple Pay, Coinbase also announced plans to add in the option for users to be able to buy crypto using Google Pay later in the year. The feature is set to roll out in the Fall, which would open up over 150 million people in over 40 countries to the option of seamlessly buying crypto.

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These additions would add to their existing list of ways their users could already purchase cryptocurrencies. With U.S. customers being able to purchase crypto using debit cards, wire transfers, or ACH, or just using funds currently available in their Coinbase USD wallets.

Coinbase continues to work on more ways to provide users access to buy crypto. Providing global access continues to remain a key focus, and on this note, Coinbase now allows users to purchase crypto using Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards in over 20 countries presently. And the crypto exchange plans to add more countries to this list as time goes on.

Total market cap recovers | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com

More methods of purchase are expected to be announced by the crypto giant which had gone public earlier this year. Just as well, the crypto market rages on as the total crypto market cap now sits at over $1.7 trillion presently. Inching close to the $2 trillion mark.

Featured image from Fintechs.fi, chart from TradingView.com