Panelists at CES 2021 Agree Widespread Adoption of Cryptocurrency Is Imminent

January 19, 2021—Leaders in cryptocurrency and digital assets alike agreed that it is only a matter of time before widespread adoption begins, during a Wednesday panel that aired as part of the Consumer Technology Association’s Consumer Electronics Show.

According to Catherine Coley, CEO of BinanceUS, individuals who have yet to adopt cryptocurrency face two main barriers: the high cost to enter the market and the technical learning curve. Coley is hoping to change that as her company lowered entry fees and boosted its support services to all.

Coley believes that Bitcoin and other digital currencies’ reputation of being risk-fraught investments is invalid, yet has resulted in a slow, but continual, rise in adoption.

Being forced to work with antiquated or even non-existent laws and regulations is a challenge the industry faces. Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Avanti Bank & Trust, said that Bitcoin has a hard time fitting with current laws since there aren’t currently any laws to guide it, as there are for traditional financial issues.

Long believes that creating more backward-compatible legal structures will help the two forms of currency coexist better.

Despite a lack of rules for its regulation, the laws that exist can make it difficult for crypto firms to operate in, including dinging their camel score, an international rating system used by regulatory banking authorities,  causing a high-risk reputation to remain.

Crypto should be merged with the traditional world of coins and recognized as an equally competent player, said Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto, CEO at Atomyze LLC. Building blockchain-based platforms to improve efficiency, allowing titled ownership in cryptocurrency, and having scalable investors’ systems is critical, she added.

Matthew Roszak, chairman and co-founder at Bloq, Inc., says that despite being told cryptocurrency was pseudo currency, he still sees 2021 as a year be a massive rush into bitcoin. The infrastructure and narrative for it must improve, though.

Public acceptance and integration of cryptocurrency could get a huge head start if big banks and financial institutions mix crypto offerings with traditional financial products and services. Every central bank and institution has a dedicated blockchain group working on how best to handle cryptocurrency, but few want to be the pioneer at the forefront, panelists said.