Decentralised blockchain technology is on its way to become ‘part of the fabric’ that forms our everyday lives, according to Brett Calapp, CEO and Co-Founder of RareMint.
Calapp spoke at SBC Summit Barcelona to an audience attending a panel discussion focusing on the future of crypto payments.
As moderator Viktoria Soltesz, CEO at PSP Angels, tried to build a general picture of how common will blockchain be as use cases for it increase, Calapp said: “During web 1.0 we used to talk about Java. Now we talk about blockchain. But the fact is in a few years we’re going to stop talking about it because it’s going to become part of our fabric. Instead, we’re going to talk about what we use it for.”
Crypto payments in particular have managed to pace their way to become increasingly sought after in a variety of industries, including gaming, due to security, anonymity and transaction speed.
Elton Dimech, Managing Director at Payhound, emphasised the fact that acceptance of crypto payments was considered by few at first due to the sector’s fluidity, but has quickly built up to be considered as a payment method on par with all other available options.
“There is a test that we need to make per coin which ultimately concludes that it is a financial asset. Otherwise it’s a utility token. In that respect we are limited to currency that fall squarely under the Virtual Finance Assets Act.
“In what we’ve seen initially we were trying to solve issues with crypto. Now, the major gateways are putting up crypto because it’s just one of the available options they can offer to their players.”
To offer crypto as a payment however, a business must first understand it, and geography plays a huge role in that as different governments have different views on digital currency, hence the more limited knowledge in some countries than others.
One market for example where “it’s all coming together” for crypto is Estonia, according to Veiko Krünberg, CEO at XGateway. “The UAE is also interesting because of the concentration of wealth, so it’s an important place to be.”
“The stage is set,” in Krünberg’s words.
Elsewhere such as in Latin America however, crypto adoption could be exhausting due to a more conservative approach, slowing down the tech significantly and forcing early adopters to “fight for it” in the words of Constanza Muñoz Torres, Chief Legal Officer at ProntoPaga.
“LatAm and Chile especially are pretty conservative. All these disruptive technologies are difficult to adopt. It’s not regulated yet. In the other parts of the world it’s easy but in LatAm and Chile, we have to fight for these things.
“But it’s becoming normal. It’s not regulated but it’s not illegal either, although it’s not something common. You won’t see crypto cashiers as you see in Europe for now. We as payment processors try to open the mindsets.”
All in all, the panel managed to close off on a positive note for blockchain, with Harry Yeh, Managing Partner at Quantum Fintech Group, saying that the next generation of internet users will experience cryptocurrencies as synonymous with banks.
