Blockchain.info is a company from the United Kingdom providing digital wallet services. The company issued a statement announcing the launch of their new service that allows the users to buy and sell bitcoins in 22 US states. The company plans to expand in the United States and offer conversions in ether and Bitcoin Cash as well in the next days.
This move by Blockchain.info is seen as a direct attack on Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States of America. The CEO of Blockchain.info, Peter Smith, gave an interview to CNBC regarding the current situation on the cryptocurrency market. Smith said: “If we set short-term gains as our priority, we would give advantage to buying, that is what most people would do. However, it is time to do it right.”
The company currently has around 22 million users, with 30 to 40% of them coming from the US. The numbers show the adoption of the cryptocurrencies is still in its early stage. Dr. James Andrew Butler, the co-founder of Sharpe Capital, a platform for digital assets, says: “There is an increasing number of providers of blockchain services, especially those that are reducing the barrier for entering the mainstream and the adoption of the cryptocurrencies. This is a clear signal to the world of traditional banking and the capital market that the blockchain technology is not going anywhere (it is here to stay). The total market capitalization of all the cryptocurrencies is currently slightly below 600 billion dollars, which is a small amount compared to the global capital market. We are starting to see the earliest days of the mainstream adoption – this is internet from 1994.”
A week ago, the price of bitcoin dropped below 10,000 dollars for the first time since November 30th, 2017. However, in only 48 hours, the market quickly recovered and was back on its feet. The current price of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency is slightly over 11 thousand dollar per coin.
