Note that some governments are not promoting digital assets. In particular, the day before, Argentina’s central bank decided to limit the ability of local crypto-traders to conduct financial transactions with the US dollar. If they have been buying BTCs for pesos in the last three months, they won’t be allowed to buy dollars at the official rate. And this is certainly not an additional reason to link to cryptocurrencies. Read more about the story in a separate piece.

Where will Bitcoin become most popular?

Journalists at news outlet Cointelegraph had an exclusive interview with Ben Caselin, vice president of global market and communications at cryptocurrency exchange AAX. He attended Blockchain Economy and spoke about the event as well as the keynotes of its speakers.

Ben Caselin, Vice President of Global Market and Communications at the AAX cryptocurrency exchange

So, a logical focus for cryptocurrencies in emerging markets is crucial as the number of consumers there reaches six billion people, which is 85 per cent of the global population. According to Caselin, “Bitcoin adoption” is not some global phenomenon that will happen quickly around the world. Different countries face different challenges, and depending on them, Bitcoin could become much more popular in individual regions.

The expert backed up his reasoning with an illustrative example. Here is his rejoinder.

People in Nigeria are dealing with a very complex banking system that is not really helping them. The government has launched a central bank digital currency project, but it has not yet caught on. People are buying Bitcoin, they want “non-government money”.

In other words, the expert makes it clear that we should not expect cryptocurrencies to become evenly popular around the world. Somewhere it will happen faster because of unfriendly bank policies, while in other regions the need for independent money may not be as great. Accordingly, coins won't spread overnight, but there will be a demand for them in any case.

Another example is the Bitcoin payment for women in Afghanistan. Such an initiative was previously initiated by Roya Mahboub, one of the country’s few high-ranking female technology executives. Before the Taliban took over the country, Mahboob organised BTC payments for female subordinates because they had serious difficulties accessing bank accounts.

Roya Mahbub, CEO of Citadel Software Company

Caselin believes that the cryptosphere has emerged from a decade-long formative phase that lasted from 2009 to 2019. He drew parallels to the early days of the internet, when Jeff Bezos was first ridiculed for his online bookstore, which eventually evolved into the current Amazon. That is to say, right now, crypto is evolving from an innovative concept into something commonplace for many people in regions of the world where living conditions are difficult. The expert stressed that this kind of benefit from crypto in practice is far more important than market fluctuations and investor earnings, i.e. in essence, the possibilities of digital assets and decentralised networks at their core go beyond trivial speculation.

The global spread of crypto in the daily lives of vast numbers of people is also predicted in a new study by Research and Markets. Analysts are confident that the crypto market will be worth at least $472 million by 2027. By comparison, experts currently estimate the crypto sphere at $46.4 million.

Growth of cryptomats in the world

The main factors for future growth are the increase in remittances in developing countries, monetary policy issues in different regions of the world, and the growing demand for cryptocurrencies themselves. Right now, the US remains the leader in terms of the number of machines installed, with 88 percent of the total number of cryptomats in the country. In the first 10 days of July alone, more than 640 devices were installed here.

It should be noted that these devices are mostly used by newcomers who are not yet familiar with other ways of acquiring digital assets. However, crypto-machines usually have extremely unprofitable rates and high commissions, as well as identity verification is required to use them. Whatever the case, the industry is growing and finding new customers.

Cryptocurrency ATMs


We think that such an observation is very relevant indeed. Still, some cryptocurrency aficionados do not take into account the difficulties people in less comfortable countries have to live with, so their predictions may be divorced from reality. However, one thing is clear from the expert's version: the scenario of using digital assets can be found even in the most unpleasant situations. And this is a significant argument in favour of their further popularisation.