A set of physical cryptocurriences. Photo by: Pexels.com
A set of physical cryptocurriences. Photo by: Pexels.com

Cryptocurrency is experiencing an overall upward trend for most major forms of digital currency. Even with the recent price changes, the overall trends continue to show positive signs for investors.

One of the biggest stories of the summer is the rollout of smart contracts from Charles Hoskinson and everyone working on Cardano. The projected timetable for Cardano smart contract is slated for this month. 

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Crypto investors have been eagerly waiting for the smart contract rollout. 

Recently, I was talking with a friend about different cryptocurrencies and the different levels of value they provide investors and consumers. During the conversation, I mentioned that my personal investment strategy is to research different crypto projects and look for which ones have more usability across major retailers. 

Note; I am not a financial advisor, and my personal experience is not a form of recommending or suggesting any asset. Any form of investment comes with risk. Take time to research projects and build your own perspective on digital currencies. 

My personal journey started with researching Bitcoin in 2018. Over the past three years, I have seen Bitcoin explode in price and consumer adoption. When I started researching cryptocurrency I was under the impression that it would have to be converted to cash to make transactions. 

Currently, the following list of companies accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment:

  • KFC
  • Pizza Hut
  • Taco Bell
  • The Habit Burger Grill
  • PayPal
  • XBOX

Institutional adoption among major companies continues to grow along with the demand to use crypto as a form of payment. One of the more successful models I have seen is for companies to accept crypto in addition to other currencies. A possible solution is to accept crypto as a form of payment, along with a fee, and that fee would be the cost to convert the crypto to cash. Ideally, over a period of time, hopefully, the fees would decrease to increase user adoption along with demand for the product or service from the company accepting crypto. 

Tesla is an excellent example of a major corporation that announced they were accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. The Tesla stock skyrocketed to new heights along with the price of Bitcoin. The price of the Tesla stock and Bitcoin aligned together during Elon Musk’s decision-making process. They both rose in price when Elon was pushing to accept the currency with Tesla. They both dropped in price when Elon reversed his decision to accept Bitcoin. 

This example of a major corporation accepting cryptocurrency connects with the concept of Cardano reaching widespread adoption. 

There are pros and cons to any form of currency. Smart contracts and keeping a record of transactions provide transparency and creates trust for users. Furthermore, providing transparency on how each cryptocurrency is mined and managed in relation to renewable energy will also be key to increasing user adoption. 

Ethereum is consistently making small improvements to its different iterations of the currency. A majority of NFTs use Ether as a form of fees, also known as gas, to buy and sell digital assets. 

Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) are currently experiencing a boom in demand. Similar to stocks and other forms of investments, there will be some projects that increase in demand over time, and a majority of them will experience a bell curve of demand. It is still early to determine which NFT projects will continue to produce profitable returns long-term.