Cryptocurrency in the United States: From the election to Wall Street to daily life

Since the birth of Bitcoin in 2009, after 15 years and nearly 4 cycles of development, with the US SEC's approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF as a sign, it can be said that cryptocurrency has completely entered the mainstream society.

Unlike the great development of cryptocurrency around the world, especially in the United States, the development of cryptocurrency in China is relatively stagnant. In the current state relations, the most important is the national competition between China and the United States. Faced with the rapid development of cryptocurrency in the United States, as Zhu Guangyao, former vice minister of the Ministry of Finance of China, said at the end of September, the biggest gap between China and the United States is that (China) does not participate.

Other people's stones can polish jade.

Therefore, during the National Day holiday in 2024, Golden Finance has incompletely counted the use cases of cryptocurrency in various fields such as "food, clothing, housing, transportation, and gods" in the United States, to see the penetration of cryptocurrency in the social life of ordinary people in the United States.

First of all, in the political field

In 2024, encryption has been fully embedded in the US election. Encryption has become the most eye-catching topic for candidates from both parties in the United States. Candidates from both parties in the United States are vying to attract users in the encryption industry.

Former US President Trump's campaign team announced in February 2024 that it would accept donations of encrypted assets. In July 2024, Trump personally attended the Bitcoin 2024 conference in the encryption industry. He said that he would ensure that the United States would become the capital of cryptocurrency and a Bitcoin superpower, and would use Bitcoin as a national strategic reserve. Trump once asked whether Bitcoin could be used to solve the US national debt problem. In addition, Trump launched his own 3 NFT series in 3 years. On September 16, 2024, Trump and his son also announced the co-founding of a new encryption platform, World Liberty Financial, which aims to become a decentralized financial (DeFi) platform that provides services such as borrowing and digital asset storage. Trump's vice presidential candidate Vance is a Silicon Valley VC who holds a large number of crypto assets.

Under the pressure of Trump's campaign, Harris plans to draw a line with the Biden administration's crypto suppression policy. Harris, the US vice president and next presidential candidate, said in a speech at the Pittsburgh Economic Club on September 22 that he would "maintain a leading position in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, blockchain and other emerging technologies," and officially stated that he would support digital assets. The latest news on October 4 showed that Mark Cuban revealed that Harris' team is actively seeking contact with the crypto industry and listening carefully to industry opinions.

Because of crypto-friendly policies, crypto industry giants such as a16z and Gemini Winklevoss brothers have stood with Trump. The super political action committee (PAC) in the crypto industry has raised nearly $170 million in campaign funds.

At the same time,Polymarket, an online betting website, stood out during the US election. Although Americans need a VPN to use Polymarket, Polymarket's 2024 election betting data has become an important data for evaluating the support rates of the two-party candidates Trump and Harris in the United States, and crypto products have begun to deeply influence the US election.

There is no doubt that the importance of crypto voters in the US election is increasing. No matter who is elected in the future, they will have to face up to the development of the US crypto industry.

Investment

Coinbase: Founded in June 2012, Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. It mainly provides crypto asset management services based on blockchain technology, including wallets, transactions, investments, payments and transfers. In addition, it also issued the US dollar stablecoin USDC with Circle. On April 14, 2021, Coinbase was successfully listed on Nasdaq, becoming the world's first listed cryptocurrency exchange. According to Coinbase's financial report, the number of verified registered users exceeds 110 million, and the number of monthly trading users (MTU) is 9.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. This means that nearly 10 million Americans trade on Coinbase every month. These Americans can buy and trade crypto tokens such as Bitcoin on Coinbase. Crypto mining companies: Trump once said that "all Bitcoins should be made in the United States." Although this cannot be done for the time being, most of the world's major crypto mining companies are listed on the US capital market. According to Golden Finance statistics, there are currently 24 crypto mining companies listed on Nasdaq and NYSE, with a total market value of more than US$25 billion.

The latest stock price data as of October 4

ETF: On January 10, 2024, the US SEC 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs, see the figure below:

Because it is listed on the national exchanges of Nasdaq and NYSE, this means that ordinary Americans only need a stock account to buy Bitcoin spot ETFs like buying and selling stocks, which is almost equivalent to holding Bitcoin.

As of October 4, 2024, the total assets held by 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States have reached US$52.4 billion.

The number of bitcoins held has reached 927,000.

Paypal: As early as 2020, Paypal opened cryptocurrency purchase services to American users. Users can purchase four cryptocurrencies, BTC, ETH, BCH, and LTC, on the PayPal platform, with a minimum purchase of $1. Paypal has more than 300 million active accounts, which can be called the American Alipay. Most Americans have a Paypal account.

In addition to Paypal, other major payment applications such as Visa, Square, Cash App, Stripe, etc. already support crypto services. Ordinary American users can purchase, transfer, and trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through these apps.

In addition to the above investment applications or platforms, many giants in the United States already support Bitcoin and crypto payments, such as PayPal, Microsoft, AT&T, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Home Depot, Shopify and other well-known American companies.

Online Shopping

PayPal:As mentioned above, Paypal opened cryptocurrency purchase services to American users as early as 2020. Users can purchase four cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, BCH, and LTC on the PayPal platform. In 2021, PayPal launched a feature called "Checkout with Crypto". PayPal's US users will be able to choose to pay with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash, and PayPal will automatically convert it into US dollars and complete the transaction. Users can use cryptocurrencies at more than 26 million merchants around the world through PayPal's checkout function. This means that as an American, you can buy almost all goods in the PayPal merchant network, including electronics, clothing, etc. PayPal has now integrated cryptocurrencies into its platform, enabling users to buy, sell and store Bitcoin and other digital currencies and stablecoins. Paypal began issuing the US dollar stablecoin PYUSD in the fourth quarter of 2023. As of now, the issuance of PYUSD has exceeded US$1 billion. As a global leader in the payment field, PayPal's acceptance of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and stablecoins marks the thorough integration of cryptocurrencies into mainstream American society.

Overstock:Overstock is a well-known American online retailer that has been partnering with Coinbase to allow users to pay for online orders with Bitcoin since 2014.

NewEgg:An online retailer that sells goods such as computer hardware and consumer electronics (the American version of JD.com). The company is one of the first companies to accept Bitcoin payments.

Shopify:Shopify allows store owners on its platform to enable crypto payment solutions to accept different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.

Amazon Gift Cards:Although Amazon, the largest online retailer in the United States, does not directly accept crypto payments such as Bitcoin, Amazon gift cards can be purchased with cryptocurrencies through many crypto gift card websites (such as Paypal, Bitrefill, Coinsbee, Cryptorefills, AMC Gift Cards, Coingate, etc.).

Gyft:Buy and send gift cards from retailers such as Amazon, Starbucks, and iTunes online. The company accepts Bitcoin payments without charging any additional fees.

Telecom Services

AT&T:AT&T is the first major US mobile operator to offer customers a cryptocurrency payment option through BitPay.

T-Mobile and Verizon:Currently, major mobile telecom services in the world can be recharged through crypto recharge service providers such as Bitrefill and Cryptorefills, and of course, major US telecom operators such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are also supported.

Home

Home Depot: Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States, allowing customers to use Bitcoin to pay for tools, building materials and services, thanks to the Flexa Spedn application that simplifies cryptocurrency transactions. Americans can buy building supplies, home appliances, gardening tools, smart home products and other products at Home Depot.

Sports, Entertainment and Gaming

NBA Dallas Mavericks:The Dallas Mavericks now accept Bitcoin as a payment method for game tickets and merchandise. BitPay will process all Bitcoin payments through the team's website.

AMC:AMC, a well-known American cinema chain, announced that it will accept Bitcoin as a payment method for movie tickets by the end of 2021. The option will be available in all AMC theaters in the United States.

Twitch:The Amazon-owned game streaming platform accepts Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash as payment for its services. The company removed this option in March 2019 but then re-enabled it in June. You can donate to Twitch users directly from your Bitcoin wallet.

Restaurant Chains

Whole Foods:Whole Foods is a leading American grocery chain that allows customers to pay with Bitcoin at checkout through a partnership with the Flexa Spedn app. This represents a major step towards the daily use of Bitcoin in retail shopping. Americans can buy food, fresh produce, meat, seafood and all other grocery essentials at Whole Foods.

Starbucks:Through the Bakkt payment platform, Starbucks allows customers to use Bitcoin to top up their Starbucks cards through the app, enabling indirect purchases of coffee and other items with cryptocurrency.

Travel

Travala:Travala.com is the world's largest crypto-friendly OTA. It offers a comprehensive range of travel products such as hotel accommodations and tours to numerous destinations. Services can be paid for using a variety of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Travala.com is powered by the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

CheapAir:A US online travel agency founded in 1989 has started accepting Bitcoin through Coinbase and later changed its payment processor to BTCPayServer.

Other

Microsoft: Microsoft will begin allowing users to top up their Microsoft accounts with Bitcoin via BitPay in 2021.

Namecheap: A leading domain registrar began accepting Bitcoin as early as 2013 because it was requested by the company's technical audience.

The Internet Archive: A San Francisco-based nonprofit digital library with a mission to "universalize all knowledge" accepts Bitcoin donations. Its web archive Wayback Machine contains hundreds of billions of web captures.

The Pirate Bay: An online index of digital content for entertainment media and software. The site has been accepting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency donations since 2013.

4Chan: 4Chan is an image board site popular with cryptocurrency users. Users typically post anonymously, and the latest posts appear above the rest. 4chan is divided into multiple sections, each with their own specific content and guidelines. Registration is not possible. The site accepts Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin as payment for 4Chan passes.

Mega.nz: A cloud storage and file hosting service launched in 2013 by Kim Dotcom (who previously founded Megaupload), the site accepts Bitcoin for account upgrades.

ExpressVPN: One of the largest virtual private network services that allows users to surf the Internet securely and privately. ExpressVPN is a subscription-based service that accepts Bitcoin.

Conclusion

From the above, we can see that the crypto industry represented by Bitcoin has entered mainstream American society in all aspects, from the general election to Wall Street to food, clothing, housing and transportation.

This trend is not only reflected in the acceptance of cryptocurrencies by capital markets, large companies and well-known brands, but also in the daily lives of ordinary Americans. More and more merchants and service providers are beginning to support cryptocurrency payments, making it more convenient and common to hold and use cryptocurrencies.

In short, the rise of the crypto industry has become an irreversible trend, and it is changing the socioeconomic landscape of the United States and even the world at an unprecedented speed.

As a historical trend, no matter if you have “not seen” or “not understood” it or “once rejected” it in the past, the most important thing is to participate in it “now”.