FSU expert sees Bitcoin as continued alternative investment but no future rival for Visa, Mastercard – Reuters
FSU expert sees Bitcoin as continued alternative investment but no future rival for Visa, Mastercard – Reuters
Guangzhi Shang, Jim Moran Associate Professor of Business Administration
In a decade, Bitcoin has gone from a shadowy novelty that sparked questions about the future of money to a successful digital investment that inspires daily financial news headlines.
Virtually every day features a new crypto prediction. As of late Thursday, Bitcoin’s market value stood at around $36,000 after rising and dipping following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike announcement. Other recent reports include a prominent trader predicting a major Bitcoin price drop and the CEO of a major cryptocurrency exchange seeing a large influx of cryptocurrency users over the next decade.
Guangzhi Shang, a cryptocurrency expert at Florida State University’s College of Business, doesn’t offer any predictions on bitcoin’s value or use, but he doesn’t see it competing with credit and debit cards anytime soon. in daily shopping.
“There’s no way Bitcoin is a threat to Visa or Mastercard as a payment processing method,” said Shang, Jim Moran Associate Professor of Business Administration.
Shang is available to comment on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as the blockchains, or databases, that provide security and transparency and drive their value. His most recent cryptocurrency research has focused on estimating the Bitcoin transaction fee market supply-demand system and providing a user-friendly tool for fee recommendations.
“There’s no way bitcoin will outrun Starbucks’ payment processing system,” he said.
Shang cites Bitcoin’s network throughput, which can process around 10 transactions per second, even with the recent implementation of a protocol upgrade known as SegWit. It has nothing to do with customer demand at Starbucks, which is processing perhaps hundreds of transactions per second, he said.
“Because of this capacity limitation and unpredictable transaction fees, I don’t think Bitcoin will ever become a consumer-to-business payment mechanism,” Shang said, “So if you’re buying a low enough value product , say a Starbucks drink and you want to pay via Bitcoin, it doesn’t make sense.
Still, he sees Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ether as strong alternative assets for investors looking to diversify their portfolios. That explains their headline dominance before and after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday.
“I see bitcoin as an alternative asset class that can be very useful for financial institutions as well as the investment arms of regular organizations or businesses,” he said.
Associate Professor Guangzhi Shang continues his research on consumer returns management and labor issues in services, as well as cutting-edge topics such as cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, crowdsourcing platforms , sports analytics and new revenue management technologies. To arrange an interview, email [email protected] .
[ad_2]
