The Bitcoin revolution brought along with it, such massive impact on the way we live, spend and execute transactions across the globe. The revolutionary payment algorithm that runs on the Blockchain has created a new transaction enabler with global application and relevance.
In terms of the social and cultural implication of the adoption of Bitcoin, the logical lines of thought revolve around the following touchstones:
A New Understanding of Payment Systems
The immediate signal that Bitcoin adoption conveys to the society is the dynamism of payment systems. Many people processed overseas transactions based on the value of their national currencies to the US dollar. With Bitcoin coming to light, the value of btc to usd became a part of the global payment mix.
There are segments of society that view payments and transaction processing in the traditional cash and bank exchange duopoly. The emergence of Bitcoin has revolutionized the actual processes of financial exchange and the prevailing understanding of the underlying themes.
Apart from Bitcoin transactions, other cryptos have leaped into global consciousness. The likes of Ripple, Ethereum, Monero, EOS, Bitcoin Cash, and others have become part of daily society transactional discourse. While the understanding of cryptocurrencies is slowly unbundling as a universal awakening, the longstanding effect could be unpredictable.
A Global Village Enabler
The idea of the world becoming a global village was muted by Marshall McLuhan in 1964, he had clear thoughts of the possibilities. Using a rare foresight, Marshall opined that cultural shrinking was inevitable as a popular global culture merges. What has galvanized the Bitcoin revolution isn’t so much of experimentation as it is about a global convergence.
There is no doubt that a global village has emerged with the advent of the Internet, and its allied spin-offs. The evolution of patterns and technologies that has shrunk national boundaries was expected by Marshall. In this digital age, the Bitcoin revolution surely has taken the global village notion several miles closer to fruition.
National boundaries are increasingly shrinking and people across the globe age finding it easier to relate outside of official frameworks. The social media has made it possible to keep a tab on goings-on around the globe with ease. New opportunities for collaboration have deepened with Slack and other online tools of similar configuration put to use to accomplish set goals.
Devaluation of Bank Accounts
Backtrack to 1990, and no one would believe that it is possible to envisage the peculiarities of 2018. Who would have initiated a transaction without taking a bank account into the mix? Surely, this is one of the fallout of the Bitcoin revolution.
There are organizations recruiting across the globe today, signing contracts, and placing purchasing orders without recourse to bank accounts. While it might be too early to say bank accounts will ultimately lose relevance, this seems inevitable. According to a forward thinker, “In the future, there would be no banks”, and the blockchain is a fitting replacement.
Getting a new Bitcoin wallet is as easy as it can be in today’s world. Once a bitcoin wallet is in place, anyone can receive and make payments. The flexibility of Bitcoin usage for transactional purpose provides an attraction to new users. In terms of its ease of use, the emergence of Blockchain 4.0 already makes it possible to use simple wallet addresses.
As Bitcoin wallets become easier to create, use, and maintain, their desirability will become exponential. The essence of ongoing research into the modification of existing algorithms is to improve the user-friendliness of cryptocurrencies. The security enhancement features, including account retrieval of cryptos is a huge plus that users celebrate.
The possibility to live and work without a bank account is already playing out on many fronts. If anyone can earn an income and get paid with bitcoin, then, the end of the cycle only needs to be completed. In paying for services or products, merchants who accept crypto payments are needed, and they are becoming ubiquitous globally.
A Big Blow to Cash Handling
One of the relics of the past is cash handling. Before modern times, bartering was acceptable as global medium of exchange. Having item A was sufficient in order to look out for Item B, and barter for it. The convenience of cash is one that many people have got used to over the years.
One of the limitations of cash handling in modern times was the likelihood of loss due to robbery or accidents. Losing your hard-earned money is painful and that was a persuasion behind card payments and banking systems. However, the need for a physical evidence of transactional power has gravitated from card payments to other chip-based gadgets.
Payments linked to mobile phone are now commonplace, and with the availability of mobile wallets, Bitcoin transfers are made easier. There is evidence that bank cards and a sleuth of other digital payments have reduced cash handling to large extent. In anyway, cash handling will decrease further to a large extent globally as Bitcoin gains more grounds.
Notably, the support for micro and nano transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain makes it relevant for wholesale and retail purposes. In the daily transactional sphere, people do not have commitments for bulk payments alone, as minute payments also arise. In this vein, crypto payments have an enduring relevance for all segments of society
Less Technical Inclinations
One of the major attractions of the social media is the ease of interaction that it guarantees. Existing algorithms used by social media channels were designed to make it possible to have access to people with like preferences. For example, on Facebook, friends are suggested to users based on background, professional or intersecting preferences.
The front end of the social media algorithm has no technical complications and everyone is able to get along. Recent developments in cryptocurrency technologies represent a push for a less technical front-end. In simple words, as users find cryptos easy to navigate, use, and maintain, the uses cases will expand.
Systems like the EOS platform have shown a great promise towards making cryptos a notch easier as social media algorithms. Other innovations like the Lightning Network are also worthy of note in this regard. Aspects of bitcoin methodology are expected to take on parts of the Lightning Network module to make it more user-friendly.
The everyday user of payment systems desire fast transactions at the least possible cost. As the hype over cryptos fade away, users will go for options that pose no hurdles. Bitcoin represents a revolutionary approach to everyday possibilities and the world is fast accepting it. It is no longer a question of societal adoption of Bitcoin as prevailing sentiments indicate an eventual embrace.
Open Source and Community Building
On a general note, less skepticism exists when radical innovations are driven by a community instead of an individual or organization. The evolution of Bitcoin has been largely driven by a community-approach. The algorithms have been improved and suggestions accepted on open platforms like GitHub.
In actual fact, while it is not disputable that the Satoshi Nakamoto framework for Bitcoin was innovative, there is more to this. At present, an open community votes for and decides on changes and improvements to the framework. This operational aspect of Bitcoin makes it easier for more people to follow its development, and push for a global acceptance.
Whereas the operations and methodology of Central Banks around the globe are of non-public nature, yet, fiat currencies reign supreme. In terms of the transparency of the Blockchain, the public has a better inclination to be receptive towards a greater adoption. An indication of this line of thought is the about-face made by leading financial institutions on Bitcoin recently.
New Vistas to Wealth Creation
Over the years, one standpoint of commerce that has resonated with society is that scarcity breeds value. Bitcoin has reinforced this common belief as the surge of interest on how Bitcoin works and what it represents today. Over the course of 2017 Q4, Bitcoin rose to its highest pinnacle, and the world paid attention.
Bitcoin took on a new reputation as a means to quick wealth with the astronomical surge in price y more than 18,000 percent in 2017. Traders, speculators and a host of other co-travelers jumped on the bandwagon for a share of the value pie. The demand indices for Bitcoin were at an all-time spike, giving rise to a pop culture reputation for the wonder coin.
For many people who never bothered about what gave rise to Bitcoin and its applications, it was a shortcut to wealth. While this optimism has since petered out in recent months, the deepening of Bitcoin usage as surged across the globe. Many people are beginning to see the vistas that Bitcoin and the altcoins can open for the global good.
Bitcoin has proven that it is not going away from global consciousness anytime soon with the emergent applications built around its usage. There is an evolving understanding of what Bitcoin can impact in our world, and clearly, “it is yet creation morning” for the wonder coin.