Unlike in the past, the world of technology has witnessed substantial progress in a short period of time with so many advancements in the ease of human activities via the internet space, with FINTECH - Financial Technology being a prime example. Financial institutions, for example, have generated several opportunities for individuals, particularly in the ease of doing business, through the usage of the internet.
Buying and selling goods and services for business has expanded dramatically and broken down many barriers with thanks to the time-saving web surfing. This has given companies and individuals who run online businesses the luxury of time and freedom to make many choices on the products and services they intend to sell and buy and to make a purchase.
Everything I just said above seems amazing and cool, right? Nonetheless, I can confidently state that more than half of online business owners and the clientele have experienced a lack of trust when it comes to conducting transactions and payments for the products and merchandise they order on the internet. This is the most critical component of any business, and it is always at the bottom of all business funnels.
For business owners, there are a range of payment gateway options to choose from for their transactions, while clients face the same trust difficulties in deciding which platform to use.
For example, PayPal is a well-known American company that primarily focuses on online payments and money transfers. It operates an open and secure payment platform through which businesses can conduct transactions with their customers online via mobile devices and stores using traditional banking currencies as the medium of exchange, such as dollars, euros, and pounds, amongst others.
Whereas, Bitcoin is a novel network alternative that enables the creation of autonomous online payment systems through the control of digital money around the world. Bitcoin operates on a peer-to-peer infrastructure, allowing for quick and frictionless transactions. Bitcoin is known as the first cryptocurrency that was utilized by people regardless of their geolocations or income levels, and it has gone on to provide merchants with a low degree of risk, high level of transparency, security, control, and payment independence.
The main disadvantage I see in PayPal is that it is regulated by the traditional banking system, as transactions are totally dependent on the international market and world banking system, which are controlled by governments for or against the wishes of the people. When there is a crash in the international market, PayPal and other payment gateways take a direct hit.
Another downside of platforms such as PayPal is the existing high fees for chargebacks, the absence of security protection, the loss of anonymity due to its connection to bank accounts, and the inability to function in certain parts of the world. Consider Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, where hundreds of thousands of international/online transactions occur, but big companies like PayPal are unable to fully operate there, causing a serious setback to financial institutions with over 200 million people and at least 100 million bank users.
This is not the case with Bitcoin due to its autonomous market and the emergence of new currency; cryptocurrencies. Has given Bitcoin an advantage over other major financial institutions in the fintech industry. Another benefit of Bitcoin is complete sovereignty over the digital currency, which has resulted in low to no cost for international transactions, innovations and new ways to business development, identity security, and, ultimately, no government affiliation.
Many companies that formerly used PayPal as a payment option have begun to use Bitcoin to offer their goods and services. Microsoft is an example of a company that has placed their trust in the use of Bitcoin. They have made it possible for their customers to purchase content using Bitcoin services. Tesla is another big company that sells automobiles. They have recently used Bitcoin as another method of making purchases and establishing a new payment system.
My conclusion is that Bitcoin has increased confidence by breaking down a huge barrier in the financial industry and giving the world more opportunities to control their businesses over the internet, and we must continue to have critical discussions about things that will increase people's confidence on Bitcoin as the 'Big Guy' in the Fintech industry right now.
All thanks to Sir Satoshi Nakamoto!
Bitcoin is a good example of modern data storing technology technology. All the financial structures in the world experience problems with avoiding mess in information processing, and blockchain, along with decentralisation, are possible ways to solve such problems. The problem of bitcoin as a currency is that it still has weak psychological acceptance in most societies throughout the the world. This drawback of BTC is beneficial for fiat money controlling structures (tycoons, governments, banks, IT-companies): they compete with BTC and make attempts to improve their own financial data storing technologies.
