Paid for anything in cryptocurrency lately? The value of a single bitcoin reached a high of $50,000 for the first time in mid-February 2021. Mastercard has announced it’s bringing cryptocurrency onto its network. Tesla bought $1.5 billion of it earlier this year and is already seeing a return, according to some analysts. Meanwhile, online investors have been pushing a currency called Dogecoin in a push to raise its value fast à la r/wallstreetbets.
Crypto, long seen as the haven for digital evangelists and internet forum dwellers, now has traditional financial gatekeepers thinking about the future of currency.
For example, China is moving to digitize the yuan, with an aim toward globalizing it in the future.
Does bitcoin’s rise reflect a decline of the U.S. dollar’s global influence? Does bringing cryptocurrency to the mainstream conflict with its founding philosophy?
