Brian Armstrong, the CEO of leading crypto exchange Coinbase, took to X on Monday, 26 August 2024, to share his thoughts on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry over the past decade.
Armstrong said that he thought payments would be the first big thing for crypto. Even with his payments forecast not panning out, the Coinbase CEO remains optimistic on its future.
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In a post responding to an Amazon job listing from 1994, Armstrong reflected on the early days of crypto.
He highlighted how this prediction for payments didn’t play out, with trading instead becoming the leading force behind crypto.
It's funny to look back on how I thought payments was going to be the first killer app for crypto, and it turned out trading was the best business in crypto for the first 10 years.
I think payments will probably take off in the second 10 years, now that we have stablecoins…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) August 26, 2024
He said, “I think payments will probably take off in the second 10 years, now that we have stablecoins (USDC), layer 2 (Base), human readable names (ENS), and simpler onboarding (Smart Wallets). It has already started if you look at stablecoin payment volume.”
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Stablecoin Market Predicted To Soar Past $3 Trillion Over The Next 5 Years
Data from The Block shows that on Ethereum alone, stablecoin payment volume is on the rise. Three of the past five months has seen volume for stable coin payment exceed $1 trillion. August is currently at $1.34 trillion with three days still left in the month.
A recent research report from Bernstein brokers predicted that the total market cap for stablecoins will rise from $125 billion to over $3 trillion within the next 5 years. Coingecko data shows that the market cap for all stablecoins stands at $171 billion.
To emphasise the growth of the sector, Paypal recently entered the market with its PYUSD token, pegged 1:1 with the USD. It has a $1.039 billion market cap, already making it the 6th largest stablecoin on the market.
PayPal (PYPL) is listed on the NASDAQ and is currently trading at $71.59 with a market cap of $73.19 billion.
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Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
