The subject of cryptocurrency has resurfaced throughout the news. Institutional buyers and publicly listed firms are purchasing bitcoin at high prices due to a disease outbreak that has resulted in explosive growth in the U.S. monetary policy. This recent surge of spending by institutions, and is seen as an innovative asset category and inflation shield, contrasts sharply with the market bubble fueled by institutional investors in 2017. China’s second-largest bank earned $3 billion in funding using bonds that could have been purchased with cryptocurrency, and market analytics firm MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) has also embraced bitcoin as its primary treasury medium of exchange, demonstrating the emerging usage cases of crypto among companies.
While crypto was in its adolescence, we are definitely past the stage of doubt about its deep viability in the capital sector. Here are few forecasts about how cryptocurrency would continue to encounter specific threats in 2021 and beyond. But before we start, if you want to become a part of the Bitcoin community then you should register yourself on the ethereum-code.meand start trading now.
Prediction 1: Bitcoin ATMs would continue to be a difficult-to-control source of money laundering
Since 2017, the amount of funds being sent U.S. bitcoin ATMs to elevated platforms has risen last year, according to research company CipherTrace, but now sits at 8%. This alarming figure demonstrates that, while bitcoin ATMs help expose beginners to cryptocurrency and make purchases more accessible, they are also a popular tool for drug cartels looking to transfer illegal funds across territories quickly and with little oversight. Money laundering cartels have helped Peruvians, but Mexican cartels turn cash from drug sales, turn fiat money into cryptocurrencies through ATMs, and then repossess the commodity back through pesos via cartel representatives utilizing accounts at local digital currencies, as shown by high-profile prosecutions in Europe and the United States. While enforcement criteria for crypto ATM companies differ by region, they can sometimes be avoided with little effort by utilizing mules when required by a computer to have government-issued identification. As a consequence, it’s possible that this would be a recurring source of worry for regulators.
Prediction 2: Crypto Would Be Incorporated into Wealth Searches and Financial Records Daily
Americans will be required to respond to a new query on Form 1040 in early 2019: “Did you purchase, transfer, give, swap, or otherwise gain some monetary stake in any crypto money at any point during 2020?” While the IRS’s involvement in crypto is purely tax-related, it foreshadows what is to come. Will a divorce lawyer be entitled to invalidate a prenup because one of the parties failed to reveal their bitcoin holdings? How can governments track bribery and transfers to public servants rendered in secret using crypto? The demand for blockchain forensic evidence, which examines difficult-to-trace transactions, has quietly picked off in recent years and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
Prediction 3: Cyberattacks Will Devastate Several Tiny Cryptocurrency Exchanges Across the World
While some digital currencies, such as Gemini and Fidelity Digital Assets (a branch of Credit Suisse), spend a lot of money to secure their clients’ portfolios with cutting-edge encryption, most exchanges can’t afford it. Smaller markets, especially those in developing markets, are often hacked who’ve already wreaked havoc on their opponents’ finances and reputations. Livecoin, a Russian exchange, published in November 2020 that it had “lost charge over all of [its] databases” and urged customers to cease dealing and communicating with its website. With bitcoin now been the world’s largest commodity and a perfect candidate for hacking, smaller exchanges would undoubtedly contend more than before with network throughput, brand loyalty, and profitability in the face of advanced cyber-attacks shortly.
Prediction 4: Regulators Will Impose Significant Penalties And, In the Worst-Case Scenario, Close Down Digital Currencies That Lack Adequate KYC/AML Controls
“Nobody is trying to block bitcoin,” according to the Central bank. The U.S. policy has recommended narrowing legislative holes here between the crypto sector and the financial sector. The most visible unresolved debate is if companies should be required to perform Know Your Client (KYC) thorough research on financial institutions in deals involving wallets, like private limited cold storage systems, which corrupt individuals may use to retain assets without scrutiny. Regardless of what new regulations are enacted in the coming months and years, it is evident that U.S. officials are keeping a close eye on the crypto industry’s activities. Furthermore, suppose the recent closing of several uses in Europe for violating financial rules is any indication of what’s to come. In that case, it’s fair to expect that U.S. platforms with lax KYC/AML safeguards will go out of business entirely.
Final Verdict
The owners of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices reported in December 2020 that a blockchain index will be launched to provide traders on Corporate America with more accurate trading results, and the move could give a strong warning to the capital markets: cryptocurrency is here to remain. However, for the business to succeed, it must follow the laws. The shift will happen quickly in every emerging industry, and those who stick to being updated about cryptocurrency will be ahead of the competition.
