Joseph Lupo agrees. Lupo is the general manager of CoinBits, which helps businesses and investors build, manage, and secure their funds in their own bitcoin portfolio. “We see a need for higher net worth individuals and businesses looking to invest in this new asset class,” said Lupo. “They needed a place to grow and someone they could trust because bitcoin didn’t have a team or headquarters, so we started the Coinbits Reserve to help businesses and individuals with net worth. higher than investing in bitcoin. We manage their investments but also focus on education and what this new digital, finite form of money can do for them.”
Consider Cryptocurrency
While companies consider potential business models and use cases for cryptocurrencies, there are factors to consider before entering the market. Cryptocurrencies are still marked by volatility and wild price swings. And concerns about security and regulatory compliance could slow adoption in more tightly regulated sectors, such as finance. Prime Trust’s Xi said: “Banks are rethinking how they can engage in crypto in a compliant manner. “What holds them back is that regulations in this space require both knowledge of the cryptosphere and specialist knowledge of compliance to understand. What’s worse is that there are no clear rules on what to follow. “
It is also imperative that the need for IT infrastructure evolve to integrate cryptocurrency. For example, The Pavilions Hotel relies on an old booking engine for guests to book hotels online. However, Toon said the system cannot accept cryptocurrency payments. The company looked for an alternative, but in the end, Toon said, the hotel chain was unable to “find a suitable supplier willing to allow us to put cryptocurrency through the booking engine. ”
Therefore, instead of booking online, guests paying for The Pavilions crypto must book directly through the company’s booking center. After a call, an agent sends an email containing a link that the guest clicks on or scans to complete the crypto payment. It’s an extra step that Toon says can “slow down the process. People want to book now — they don’t want to talk to anyone or email anyone. They just want to make the reservation themselves.”
As cryptocurrencies become widely accepted, Xi said businesses will increasingly look for agnostic IT infrastructure that allows for easy integration with a wide range of features and solutions. Otherwise, she notes, “multi-vendor integration processing can become overwhelming and costly.”
Another challenge facing institutions entering the crypto market is the scarcity of qualified talent – a key ingredient in developing innovative products and services. “We all know that technical and product talent in crypto is extremely difficult these days,” Xi said. This, she says, can lead to one of two unfavorable outcomes: either “huge upfront costs for internal staff” or alternatively, if a company chooses to attract a large team of employees. has a modest size, “a really long time to go to market and a missed opportunity” to gain a competitive advantage.
This content is produced by Insights, the custom content arm of MIT Technology Review. It was not written by the editorial board of the MIT Technology Review.
