Will Crypto shape the future of global economies?

Governments, Education Institutes, Banks and Celebrated Influencers are all jumping in, accepting and utilizing Cryptocurrency around the world. Elon Musk had recently announced his support for Bitcoin and many contributed the subsequent rise of Bitcoin to his tweet. Bitcoin has reached unprecedented heights priced at above $50,000. Is the rise of Crypto a bubble or is it here to stay with us in the future shaping the global economies?

Brands like KFC, Burger King, Tesla, Microsoft, AT&T are all accepting Cryptocurrencies while banks like JP Morgan have created blockchain networks on-boarding other banks. State Bank of India (SBI) is joining JPMorgan’s blockchain payments network to bring more efficient international payments to users. The public sector bank, India's largest by various metrics, will use JPMorgan’s blockchain platform to help accelerate cross-border payments and optimize efficiency while reducing costs. Blockhain is a technology framework that is used to create tokens or new crypto currencies. Some of these banks might not be trading crypto currencies, however, they are geared up for the time when they eventually will embrace Crypto currencies in the future. It is not just banks and brands that are now dealing in Crypto, Nations are developing strategies on blockchain and crypto currencies.

The UAE has increased efforts implement their Crypto strategy, by launching a blockchain as a Services (BaaS) platform to host use cases for public governance. Even ADGM's financial services regulatory authority (FSRA) is spearheading the blockchain revolution, by devising a regulatory framework for crypto transactions. Dubbed Liink, the blockchain network is based on a fork of Ethereum and has already been integrated by around 100 banks. This year the Africa Digital Finance Summit’s inaugural event was themed “Decentralized finance, our pathway to financial freedom” that brought together regulators, African central banks, businesses, known crypto whales, and decision-makers across the world, to rethink the development trajectory of Africa’s finance ecosystem. A crypto whale is a cryptocurrency term that refers to individuals or entities that hold large amounts of crypto. Whales hold enough cryptocurrency that they have the potential to manipulate the currency valuations.

A Canadian Pakistani Entrepreneur, Khurram Shroff who is the Chairman of IBC Group and has been titled an Arab Whale in the global market. Khurram has contributed to the launch of Etherum 2.0, while making a record breaking pledge in crypto and is contributing to awareness as well as education on crypto and blockchain Globally. While Bitcoin is the highest valued and most famous crypto currency, it is not the only one brining about global change and innovation.

Besides Bitcoin, Ethereum - the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has also gained significant value lately. Khurram Shroff was a key contributor in the launch of Ethereum 2.0, with an investment of $10 million (around 20,000 Ether staked). Ethereum 2.0, also known as Eth2 or “Serenity”, is an upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain. The upgrade aims to enhance the speed, efficiency, and scalability of the Ethereum network so that it can process more transactions and ease bottlenecks. The staking approach fills gaps that existed in the prior Proof-of-Work mining model of Blockchain. "Unlike the energy-intensive mining model, the Proof-of-Stake model for Ethereum 2.0 doesn’t require large server farms, which makes it eco-friendlier and sustainable. This is the crypto market's way of showing how capable it is to adapt to the ever-evolving needs of the contemporary world," Shroff explained to in an interview. Shroff has also backed Miami 2.0 Blockchain strategy for the state of Miami In the US. This could turbo-charge use of the cryptocurrency, which is estimated to transact USD $200 Billion per day, by the end of 2021.The largest in pledge in Bitcoin History by IBC group is a significant contribution in facilitating the digital-currencies adoption across multiple industries and critical in aiding Miami’s vision to integrate Bitcoin in everyday transactions.

Governments, Education Institutes, Banks and Celebrated Influencers are key pillars of an economy and as they move towards acceptance of Crypto Currency, Crypto Currencies may be becoming the currencies of the future. There is no denying that the world is seeing faster, more sustainable, and planned adaption of block chain and Crypto networks. According to Deutsche Bank the current money system is fragile. Deutsche Bank sees that by 2030 digital currencies will rise to over 200 million users. In the “Imagine 2030” report, Deutsche Bank suggests that digital currency could eventually replace cash one day, as demand for anonymity and a more decentralized means of payment grows. The adoption of Crypto in this report has been compared with adoption of the internet, showing how innovation takes time for adoption and how early adopters benefit in economic value.

While the world moves towards a globalised, innovative approach to embracing and preparing their technology and payment infrastructure, Pakistan is yet to clarify its position on crypto adoption. One of the global Crypto influencers is a Pakistani Origin entrepreneur. In the country of origin, there are conflicting news and opinions in the market but the real question is how much economic value will that nation lose, if the country is too late?