Vitalik Buterin, creator of cryptocurrency Ethereum, claimed, “If crypto succeeds, it’s not because it empowers better people. It’s because it empowers better institutions.”
As the success of cryptocurrency continues to surge, many corporations are taking notice and implementing or developing future strategies on how to incorporate the breakthrough technology, primarily the blockchain, to maximize their services and improve efficiency. By incorporating cryptocurrency elements, this also provides an array of benefits to the customer such as ease of transactions and wider accessibility to products.
Industry Giants Intrigued by Blockchain
Speculation remains rampant that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) will throw their hat into cryptocurrency, as a recent survey of 1000 respondents on possible future expansions revealed that customers of the online marketplace giant responded positively to the idea of using “Amazon coins” for future purchases.
Sixty-one percent of users replied that they were more or equally comfortable with Amazon running their financial transactions as opposed to a traditional bank.
According to Fox Business, Starbucks executive chairman Howard Schultz’s claim that a Bitcoin successor would emerge in the near future led to speculation that the Seattle based coffee chain had something up their sleeves. Schultz claimed, “I think blockchain technology is probably the rails in which an integrated app at Starbucks will be sitting on top of.”
Adding fuel to the fire, he also claimed that the key to a new cryptocurrency champion would be trust, wherein the corporation had a physical presence that was built on trust and quality and with clear visibility to consumers.
These factors would be key to providing a mutually beneficial environment where customers could take advantage of the convenience provided by cryptocurrency transactions, as it is not universally viewed in a positive light.
Blockchain technology is what drives cryptocurrencies and provides a safe, decentralized currency. It regulates and secures all transactions between anonymous users by utilizing mathematical algorithms which have to be solved in order to process a transaction.
It is this very technology that many companies are looking into investing or have done so already.
In the thriving cannabis industry, the up and coming PotNetwork Holdings, Inc. (OTCMKTS:POTN) has also had its eyes on cryptocurrency and incorporating blockchain to catalyze its products. The holdings company features an extensive lineup of CBD products through its subsidiary, Diamond CBD, and has announced its newly established subsidiary, BlockChain Crypto Technology Corporation.
This will allow PotNetwork Holdings to venture into crypto currency transactions and utilizing blockchain technology to provide a more secure form of payment as well as order tracking capabilities. The creation of BlockChain Crypto Technology’s new mining pool will be the key behind their upcoming CBD coin, which will facilitate traceable and transparent cannabis transactions for their CBD products.
The blockchain provides some much needed transparency to a controversial industry with relatively murky legal boundaries. For companies such as PotNetwork Holdings, this allows for more accessible services and can help promote the industry as a whole in a brighter light as they utilize the blockchain for better transaction visibility.
As vital resources such as access to major banking institutions aren’t available, the blockchain is becoming a very popular method of processing payments due to its decentralized features.
International Players
In Japan, Rakuten (TYO:4755) has announced plans for its future Rakuten coin, having opened The Rakuten Blockchain Lab in the UK in 2016. Rakuten dominates Japan’s e-commerce scene and the implementation of a unique cryptocurrency will enable users to shop online and peruse an even wider variety of products with improved efficiency and faster transactions.
Popular messaging app Line, owned by top South Korean search engine Naver (KRX:035420), also announced their involvement in cryptocurrency. With the development of subsidiary Unblock, the South Korea based Unblock will serve as a blockchain research facility to test out different methods to improve its chatting platform. Line also announced that Line Pay, their payment application, would incorporate virtual currency as well.
South Korean messaging application Kakaotalk (KRX:035720) has also announced similar plans, teaming up with the company behind UpBit, a popular Korean cryptocurrency exchange. Much like Line, Kakao’s leading fintech app KakaoPay will also enable the use of virtual currencies where users can freely distribute currency among each other. Kakao has also announced that they will create their own cryptocurrency sometime in 2018.
As Kakao provides a variety of apps and services such as a popular taxi hailing app as well as a social network service, it maintains a dominant presence in Korea, with over 41 million users.
Future Implications
As corporations scramble to latch onto the cryptocurrency train, it remains to be seen what effects these recent developments portend for the long term. E-commerce is an industry that is primed for huge changes through future cryptocurrency innovations, and one whose prospects need to be gauged continuously.