• Lightspark CEO says Bitcoin could help transform global payments.
• David Marcus explained his view today on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”.
• Bitcoin is currently down about 20% versus its year-to-date high.

David Marcus – the Chief Executive of Lightspark sees a big future for Bitcoin that’s down 20% versus its year-to-date high at writing.

Bitcoin could transform global payments

Marcus has a vision for the world’s largest cryptocurrency that goes well beyond its current stature as a store of value only.

On CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, he asserted that Bitcoin actually had the potential to play a significant role in making global payments as seamless as texting.

What we’re trying to do is turn Bitcoin into a real global payment network. We’re still in the fax era of global payments. That’s what we’re attempting to solve.

Marcus finds the existing fintech apps somewhat inadequate in facilitating cross-border payments. He has previously served as the president of PayPal Holdings Inc.

Bitcoin is not a currency for everyday use

Lightspark is committed to addressing the scalability issues surrounding Bitcoin and making Bitcoin transactions both faster and cheaper.

But the goal is not really to turn Bitcoin into a currency that can be used for everyday transactions, he added in his interview with CNBC today.

Bitcoin on top of Lightning is like a small data packet only for value. You can exchange at edges of network and send dollars to someone who’ll receive Yen or Euros.

Marcus admitted the need to work closely with the regulators to unlock the full potential of Bitcoin in revolutionising the global payment ecosystem.

• Bitcoin’s adoption is at an early stage, according to Wells Fargo

• Like the 1990s, when the internet saw an explosion in mass adoption, crypto is set on a similar trajectory

• Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst with London-based digital asset trading platform GlobalBlock, says “it’s only a matter of time” before major banks and companies still on the sidelines join the crypto bandwagon.

Multinational financial services firm Wells Fargo this week published a report that was highly bullish on cryptocurrencies, suggesting that it’s only a matter of time before we see an explosion in crypto adoption.

The banking giant looked at the adoption of the internet in the 1990s and the current trend for Bitcoin and other digital assets to conclude that crypto is on a path to exponential growth and adoption.

According to the company, crypto’s “adoption percentages” today mirror those recorded during the nascent years of the internet. With use cases in the digital asset space getting the recognition that they deserve across the globe, Wells Fargo predicted that people are quickly embracing the technology.

But at just 3% of the global population, or about 221 million people, the future is bright for crypto should the trend hold and reflects that seen with the internet, the report added.

Chart showing internet usage compared to crypto user growth. Source: Wells Fargo

While Wells Fargo expects crypto to “hit a hyper-infliction point” not far in the future, its call also includes a warning that many projects will likely also fail.

Sotiriou: Just a matter of time

Some of the world’s largest banks still hold a negative outlook for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. 

But Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst with UK-based GlobalBlock digital asset trading firm, believes this won’t be the case for long.

According to him, the likes of Bank of America will soon take a different stance on crypto as did JPMorgan, led by its CEO Jamie Dimon.

Institutional investors are already increasingly interested, the analyst points out. This week, KPMG Canada became the lasted when it revealed it had added Bitcoin and Ethereum to its treasury.

Bitcoin price

Bitcoin could be a primary beneficiary of the massive adoption, GlobalBlock’s Sotiriou noted on Friday. 

Bitcoin’s retreat from highs of $45,500 this week means bulls are facing prospects of further weakness. The outlook, according to Sotiriou, is likely to be exacerbated by the broader sentiment across markets following yesterday’s hotter than expected US inflation data.

He also notes that the rejection after BTC/USD jumped nearly 40% since its January lows suggest bulls need will to bounce above this week’s intraday highs and hold off sellers to confirm a bullish continuation.

BTCUSD was trending around $43,643 at the time of writing.

The cryptocurrency created back in 2013 as a joke by Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer now is the 12th biggest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $25 billion dollars.

On December 27th, Billy Marcus said on his official twitter account that he holds approximately 220,000 DOGE and that he is not working on the Dogecoin project, but he is a regular member of the DOGE community.

He also said that he isn’t going back to be part of the project because the more he dedicated to the project, the community treated him worse.

Marcus also commented that he doesn’t owe anything to the crypto community, and he is free to talk about anything he wants.He also supports the people that are working to improve the crypto space and is disappointed in the ones that aren’t making it better.

Billy Marcus got his attention in 2021

This is not the first time that Billy Marcus talks about Dogecoin (DOGE) this year. Last January he tweeted that he left the project 7 years ago because of harassment of the community.

“I’m no longer part of the Dogecoin project. I left around 2015, as the community started to strongly shift from one that I was comfortable with. I don’t currently own any Dogecoin, except what has been tipped to me recently, I gave away and/or sold all the crypto I had back in 2015, after being laid off and scared about my dwindling savings at the time, for about enough in total to buy a used Honda Civic.” Billy Marcus said on Reddit.

Six months later, in June, he tweeted that he bought some DOGE after he promised 8 years ago that he would never buy crypto again.

A strong year for DOGE in 2021

It has been a good year for DOGE and crypto in general. Although DOGE is at $0.19 at the time of writing, it is actually down 72% from it’s all time high ($0.68) in May. However, it is still up +4,000% in comparison with its price from a year ago. Elon Musk took a huge influencer role on its price movement during this year, especially when he appeared on Saturday Night Live talking about Dogecoin, which was the same time that the cryptocurrency had its ATH.

Story continues

Last October, AMC Theatres announced that they will be accepting DOGE to buy digital gift cards, and recently this month, Elon Musk announced that DOGE will be accepted in Tesla as a form of payment for some merchandise.

It appears that DOGE is no longer a joke and it is used to buy real things, Billy Marcus 8 years ago wouldn’t have imagined that DOGE would have come this far. The co-founder has made it very clear that he doesn’t want to be a part of the project again, and as the global crypto adoption continues, we can expect DOGE to continue to grow next year.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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