7 ways crypto could shake things up in the next 10 years

What will the future hold for crypto in the next 10 years? It’s impossible to say exactly, but we can take a stab based on crypto events and trends in the last few years. 

Here are seven ways in which crypto may shake things up in the next decade. 

1. Bitcoin as a global reserve currency?

Could bitcoin become the global reserve currency in the same way as the US Dollar? It’s a tough sell to those pushing and pulling the levers, but it’s an idea often floated by crypto’s supporters. Imagine a currency built for the Internet that can be sent and cleared at internet speeds, at a fraction of the cost, and is verified on a tamper-proof blockchain. And you already know how it works – no printing. Makes sense, right? 

2. Michael Saylor’s bitcoin bet matures

MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor’s company, became the first listed company to add bitcoin to its treasury in August 2020. Since then, the company has amassed around 152,000 BTC at an average price of roughly $29,000. If BTC price projections play out as some respected investors believe over the next decade, let’s just say he’ll be sitting pretty sweetly. 

It’s not all that far-fetched to think that cage fight duals and space races could be in Saylor’s future, considering the competitive nature of the billionaire’s club. 

3. The tokenisation of everything 

While digital drawings of apes have come to define non-fungible tokens (NFTs), it’s distracted from the technology’s far-reaching use cases in everyday life. 

An NFT is an irrefutable token of ownership stored on a blockchain. This token can be representative of monkey art, music rights, gold, stocks, a house, fractions of a house, a car service record, or your vote in an election. 

Anything tangible can be tokenised on a blockchain. Experts say this is very likely to happen sometime in the future and will change the way we see ownership. 

4. Crypto in investment portfolios are considered ‘normal’

Millions of people around the world currently invest in crypto, even large institutional investors want a piece of the action. But digital assets are still considered an oddity by many from the old school in the financial fraternity. With regulators around the world introducing clear guidelines and regulations for crypto investment, it may one day not be inconceivable for asset managers to include a small allocation of bitcoin to your retirement fund.

5. Everything’s automated using smart contracts 

Occam’s razor is a theory in philosophy that says the simplest solutions are usually the easiest to execute. It would be a grievous understatement to say that our current financial and legal systems – most systems – are quite complicated. 

When Vitalik Buterin was creating Ethereum, he had the idea that if bitcoin, data representative of value, can be recorded on a blockchain, other bits of information can be hitched to these types of transactions. Instead of just sending money to and fro on a blockchain, certain agreements, contracts, could also be added, and then verified by a computer programme in the process when certain terms are met. 

These contracts can be loans, sales in online marketplaces, payments related to estate planning, and so on. Instead of various and numerous service providers having to check and verify documents and other details, a computer programme can handle the load, and do this instantly and at a much cheaper rate. 

The various parties from decentralised and traditional sectors still have to align for the tech to live up to expectations but the potential is there. Will smart contracts replace lawyers in the future? Probably not, but experts say they will pick up a lot of the slack and cost. 

6. NFT Nikes adorn our virtual feet

Expectations around the metaverse have deflated somewhat in the last year but big developments continue under the radar. Global brands such as Nike have teamed up with EA Sports and Fortnite to launch NFT apparel in these virtual worlds. 

While mass attendance of music concerts and other events in these digital worlds may not be in our immediate future, who knows where the marriage of virtual reality and crypto will take us in the next 10 years. By the way, collectively, about 242 million people played Fortnite in June. That’s a big push for virtual brands and the future of the technology. 

7. Your relatives know how a blockchain works 

Truth be told they probably won’t, unless they’re software engineers, seeing as only developers truly understand what’s going on inside a blockchain, right? But there may come a time when most people aren’t even aware that the app or tech they’re using is running on crypto under the hood. 

Imagine buying shoes from an online store in the US and paying for it in rands, but the underlying transaction is settled in bitcoin. Sounds complicated, but who cares when the deal is easily settled and is infinitely cheaper than having to convert Dollars to rands and the other way around. 

There’s a thinking that true adoption happens when people aren’t even aware of the tech that’s powering the solution. The Internet is the ultimate example. Will the same go for crypto in the next 10 years? 

The potential of the next decade

Luno celebrates a decade of supporting people across the world with their crypto, launching a raft of new products to help people take advantage of the growing opportunities in cryptocurrency. What will the next ten years look like? We can’t say for sure, but we’re in it for the long haul and can’t wait to find out.