Many compare the adoption of cryptocurrency to that of the Internet. Like its predecessor, crypto is a new technology that has the potential to disrupt all of society.
While adoption can seem slow, according to a chart on Crypto.com and Tweeted by Raoul Pal, it actually is forging ahead at a tremendous pace. In fact, we are presently seeing a 113% growth rate. If we want crypto to mirror what pace the Internet set a couple decades back, it will have to slow down to a 63% rate.
As the chart shows, if that happens before slowing down to a more modest 17% growth rate by mid-decade, we will see 4 billion cryptocurrency users by 2030.
This is not apt to happen. We will probably see this trend continue.
Here are 5 reasons why crypto adoption will continue to outpace that of the Internet.
The Internet Will Add 40% More Users
According to the Internet World Stats, there were 5.05 billion people online at the end of December 2020. With a global population of around 7.8 billion individuals, forecasts are for another 2 billion people to be added during the rest of this decade.
Hence, the adoption rate is not only going to include those who are presently using the Internet but also those who are joining.
Society Is More Technically Advanced
Let us be honest: back in the 1980s and 1990s, we were, as a society, technical fools. Very few of us has much idea about computing or digitization. Only a select few were adept in this area.
The same is not true today, especially among the younger generations. Anyone 40 or under grew up in an age when technological change was a constant. The Internet and mobile era really conditioned people to embrace newer applications as they came out. Certainly there still are those who resist but that is changing as the demographics shift. In other words, those who fight technology are tending to die off.
We All Use Currency
Money is not a novel concept to anyone. This was not the case for the Internet. Hence, people are not averse to acquiring money and utilizing it. This is a big hurdle to overcome.
As people see others improving their wealth via cryptocurrency, they will naturally gravitate towards it. This is in alignment with human nature. From what we can see, it appears the less resources a country has, the greater the likelihood this will take place.
Thus we have a familiarity built in, at least at the conceptual level.
Cryptocurrency Is Going To Be Unavoidable
The Internet became something that most in the developed world adopted. However, even after 30 years, there are still people who avoid the Internet. As stated, we also see billions of people, globally, who are not connected.
We are not going to see the same thing with cryptocurrency. If one is online, it is going to be something that cannot be avoided. Throughout the rest of this decade, we will see cryptocurrency integrated into everything online. Games, VR rooms, browsers, and anything else we can think of will have people being incentivized via cryptocurrency.
This could really take on new meaning as more devices are connected and suddenly our coffee maker is a crypto earning machine.
Zero Entry Fee
Cryptocurrency requires nothing to get involved with other than the ability to connect to the Internet. As we are seeing, this is something that most are quickly becoming able to do.
That was not the case 25 years ago. Connecting to the Internet was an expensive proposition. Keep in mind, this was long before smartphones, thus mobile Internet usage was not available.
Computers were a much greater cost. We did not see $250 laptops at that time. We were still in a PC world, devices that cost thousands of dollars. Of course, we quickly got a chicken or the egg situation in that Internet usage pushed PC adoption, which led to price drops. Or was it the other way around?
Either way, if one is online, cryptocurrency does not cost to get involved with. Certainly, people buying currencies such as Bitcoin are operating in that manner. For the rest of the world however, we are seeing more opportunities to simply be rewarded for things that are done online.
This makes the entry fee to enter crypto exactly zero.
Source
It is interesting to see that the chart puts us roughly around 1997 in terms of the path that the Internet took. This means we really have not hit the exponential growth scale. This is a log chart which flattens things out in appearance. Notice the numbers on the right are 10x of each other yet are not separated on the chart by the same ratio.
Nevertheless, if these forecasts are correct, we will be hitting 1 billion users of cryptocurrency within the next few years. This is something that will really alter the landscape of humanity. It also shows the amazing growth potential that still remains in this industry.
The only question is whether we can maintain the growth rate we saw so far. If the 113% is correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, then it is likely we will see it continue. The growth rate of the Internet was able to carry on for years.
And here we spelled out 5 reasons why the cryptocurrency adoption rate will outpace the Internet.
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