How COVID-19 led to the Growth of the Global Crypto Market
The pandemic is largely behind us today, still, its lasting impact will be felt for years to come. At the height of the pandemic, national boundaries were shut as casualties increased. As grim as the pandemic was, it signaled a new era for cryptocurrencies as more people joined the train, leading digital asset holdings to an all-time high.
TL;DR
- The crypto market has seen consistent growth since the height of the covid outbreak in 2020
- Digital assets provided an alternative source of income to many as their value soared along with increased adoption
- Lockdown also signaled the birth of crypto payment gateways as people tried cutting costs to cope with the pandemic
New Heights for Digital Assets
At the height of the COVID outbreak in 2020, almost all countries in the world had their national boundaries closed in a bid to curb the spread of the outbreak. This was followed by measures of strict social distancing and movement restrictions.
This also meant that businesses had to close doors, leading to the collapse of several businesses as they could no longer generate income. For those that did not close down, spending and salary cuts were put in place while workers had to work from home where necessary.
This new work-from-home remote work model has since become the norm in several workplaces and it largely contributed to the growth of the digital asset space. Statistics have shown that investors flocked to the crypto space as an alternative source of investment in this period of uncertainty. A move that saw a Year-on-Year (YoY) growth of 300% in 2020 alone.
At the height of the pandemic, the crypto market capitalization hit $2.43 trillion. This contrasted with the reality of other industries around the world.
Alternative Source of Income
As cryptocurrencies and blockchain pioneered another digital revolution, it was hardly surprising that new income opportunities came along. Several jobs became available ranging from blockchain developers to smart contracts experts, product designers, and down to community managers. This meant that people could make money from the comfort of their homes without feeling the pressure of the lockdown.
Aside from the tech jobs that were obviously created, other sources of income soon followed like crypto trading (futures trading). This period also birthed the play-to-earn economy where game players from all around the world can partake in blockchain-based games to earn rewards and collect rare digital assets in the form of NFTs.
The Birth of Crypto Payment Gateways
As work-from-home became the norm, it was obvious that lay-offs were the solution for most businesses as they will not need to pay workers who are no longer part of their organizations. People started turning to several means to cut costs and get the best utility for their money.
As eCommerce was already the go-to channel to restock (due to movement restrictions), people then turn to cryptocurrencies to reduce transaction costs. It is no secret that the traditional financial system charges arbitrarily to complete transactions.
This has since led to the emergence of crypto payment gateways that give online businesses the opportunity to offer customers alternative payment option that helps them reduce cost without compromising the payment process. IvoryPay is one of the leading payment gateways that have since emerged for global payments processing.
Final Thoughts
Even now that covid is largely behind us, these occurrence has shaped our reality and ushered in a new era all around the world. Remote work, alternative investments, new types of jobs, and payment gateways have emerged as solutions to the challenges and restrictions of traditional systems. Today, we can confidently state that covid-19 has helped us to discover better ways to get things done, an occurrence whose impact has redefined our approach to everyday life.
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