Mass Adoption of Blockchain Payments’ is not very far, Says BitPay CEO

In a recent interview on CNBC, the CEO of crypto merchant platform BitPay, Stephen Pair stated that the current speculation on future adoption is driving Bitcoin’s (BTC) price more than “actual utility.”

Commenting on Bitcoin’s current value when compared to its previous high price, Pair told reporters: “A very big component of the [Bitcoin’s] price is certainly speculation. It’s investors that are speculating on the future usage and adoption of this technology. I’m sure a small component of that price is the actual utility.”

When questioned about the potential to stimulate a price rally by Bitcoin ETF’s, Pair argued that “not just ETF adoption or ETF launches” could be catalysts for price movement, but that “adoption will push the prices higher.” He further added that: “I do think we’ll see those kinds of prices at some point in the future if history is any guide.”

When asked a question about the adoption of blockchain-based currencies’ use in our daily transactions, the BitPay CEO answered to CNBC that he expects that such adoption will happen on a large scale within the next five years. He said, “I used to say ten years, but now I think it’s more like 3-5 years until you can go into a restaurant, a retail establishment, and just everybody’s going to expect that that store will be able to accept a blockchain payment.”

He further added that he was not just referring to the various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or other tokens that we are seeing today but also about issuing dollars on a blockchain or euros on a blockchain.”

As reported earlier in one of our reports, Hester Peirce, a commissioner for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had said that the approval of a Bitcoin ETF is not necessarily close at hand and added that “could be 20 years from now” or “tomorrow,” urging the crypto community to not “hold [its] breath.”

A recent study published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance states that the number of verified cryptocurrency users has nearly doubled during this year.

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