Most crypto headlines obsess over price – what’s up today, what’s down and what might happen next.
But the more important shift isn’t happening on trading screens. It’s happening in how crypto is quietly being woven into everyday transactions.
E-commerce, over the last few decades, has become a major driver of the world’s economy, with estimated sales in the U.S. alone reaching $1.23 trillion last year. (That figure doesn’t factor in China, Japan, the EU and the rest of the world.)
But you get the idea. E-commerce is a huge part of the global economy now.
With that in mind, you may find it surprising (or inevitable) that a major global e-commerce platform just gave 44 million users the option to pay with crypto as easily as entering their credit card information. And that raises a far more important question than price – what happens when using crypto becomes normal?
Rakuten’s big move bringing crypto into the mainstream
Rakuten recently announced that they are bringing payments via their app to their customer base of 44 million people to be able to make payments on the go with Ripple via XRP at five million different merchants in Japan.
Now, before you shrug it off as “that’s just in Japan,” realize that Rakuten has a global reach, and this move has to start somewhere to be, then, rolled out worldwide.
Also, it’s worth noting that sushi, samurai, ninja, Zen, anime, manga, and J-Pop all started in Japan but are global phenomena now. You know people right now watching My Hero Academia (anime and manga) and planning to see Baby Metal on their current U.S. tour.
So, a move by a big player in Japan causes ripples worldwide.
And it’s worth pointing out that, while this payment option has to start somewhere (Japan, in this case), it also has to start with a limited number of cryptocurrencies in the beginning, Just one, Ripple, in this case.
But, again, starting with one coin is just that: starting. Not ending with just one coin.
Rakuten isn’t foolish. They want to make it as easy as possible for their customers to pay for goods and services however they want, and if they’re enabling the use of crypto for payments, that means that this multibillion dollar company sees crypto will be the payment method of choice for a significant portion of transactions in the future.
Remember, adoption doesn’t happen through hype. It happens through convenience.
As more and more companies follow this same trend, every payment processor, every store and merchant, every business will accept crypto, and every shopper will have an easy, convenient way to use crypto for their purchases.
But I get it. You may still be asking, Why should I care?
Here’s why prudent investors are paying attention
While most reporting on crypto is about the hype of price movements up and down, the real shift in the world of finance is about how crypto is being used. Use cases and crypto adoption are about real-world utility, not about volatile supply and demand.
Crypto is, on a fundamental level, a currency. That obviously means that it is designed to be used for buying and selling. And more and more average, everyday people have shown that they want to be able to use crypto for their purchases.
That’s why big companies who can see the writing on the wall are making it as easy as possible, are making it frictionless to be able to use crypto for payments. They want to make it easy. No tech jargon for people to learn to pay with crypto. No learning curve to get up to speed with using a payment app in order to use crypto for payments. Making a payment with your crypto wallet first had to become just as easy as using PayPal or Venmo.
And this ease of use is evidence of a broader worldwide shift toward crypto as a mainstream payment method.
Crypto is no longer something unusual, it’s now recognized as something useful.
That matters because utility drives staying power. And staying power is what long-term strategies are built on.
From early adoption to majority adoption
We’re at the very earliest point of mass acceptance of crypto into the everyday world of finance and business which is why many investors are choosing to diversify into cryptocurrencies now.
While early adopters of crypto were those who were excited about being on the bleeding edge of things or those who like the excitement of new more than useful, those turning towards crypto adoption now are the second (or third) wave of pioneers who have avoided much of the risk that early crypto proponents had to contend with while seeing the opportunity before it fully engulfs the mainstream in society.
Historically, these later waves of adopters are the people who put themselves into the position of being able to get ahead of the wave of mainstreaming the trend so that they take advantage of the wave when it hits.
Because when an opportunity feels normal, the big opportunity that was there is now past.
If crypto continues trending in this direction – from speculation toward everyday utility – then the conversation for many investors starts to shift. It becomes less about speculating on short-term price moves and more about long-term positioning. “Long-term positioning” here means ensuring you personally share in the rewards of the future of money.
Education is the first step. You can start your due diligence with our Free Crypto IRA Guide.On the other hand, if you’ve already decided that you’re ready to diversify into crypto, but you want to do that in a tax-advantaged way to get the benefits of crypto without the headaches, you can open your own BitIRA account in just minutes.
