Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin suggested a new way of increasing crypto adoption. He tweeted on Sunday pointing out that preloaded cryptocurrency cards available at corner stores will be better for crypto adoption.“I think there’s too much emphasis on BTC/ETH/whatever ETFs, and not enough emphasis on making it easier for people to buy $5 to $100 in cryptocurrency via cards at corner stores.”Buterin tweeted, “The former is better for pumping price, but the latter is much better for actual adoption.”

What will be the use of these crypto cards?

The tweet started a series of speculation and led to a number of questions related to it. In fact, a Twitter user commented on the tweet asking, “Why would people buy crypto at corner stores? Never made sense to me. To buy milk with crypto? Classic fiat currency works very well for those scenarios”

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I think there’s too much emphasis on BTC/ETH/whatever ETFs, and not enough emphasis on making it easier for people to buy $5 to $100 in cryptocurrency via cards at corner stores. The former is better for pumping price, but the latter is much better for actual adoption.

— Vitalik Non-giver of Ether (@VitalikButerin) July 29, 2018

To which Buterin replied saying that they are to be used for various purposes such as to pay transaction fees, and micropayments in applications. The cards will be an easy way of obtaining cryptocurrency. While another twitter user commented saying, “This is a false comparison. BTC and ETH are polymorphic, meaning they function BOTH as investments and a medium of exchange/commodity. ETFs simplify the INVESTMENT aspect, while cards/payment solutions would simplify the medium of exchange use case. BOTH are important…”

Buterin wrote, “I personally think the current level of adoption is imbalanced, ie. There’s relatively speaking too much investment and not enough usage.” There’s no doubt that the thought is worth considering – making as widely available as buying a phone card can definitely increase adoption. According to a Wells Fargo/Gallup poll, only 2 percent of investors say that they currently own bitcoin, and less than 1% plans buy in near future.

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In another survey by CareerBuilder from late 2017 revealed around 80 percent of American workers live paycheck to paycheck. When talking about mass crypto adoption one shouldn’t forget them. To get adoption percentages higher more is needed to be done to reach maximum people and Buterin’s idea might help.

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Image via Wikimedia Commons

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