Explore the lesser-known uses of digital currencies beyond being just money, with ten surprising applications in the financial world.
For a considerable amount of time, digital coins, often known as cryptocurrencies, have been creating waves in the financial industry. Although the majority of people are aware of its function as a digital money, there are a lot more uses for them than just that.
1. Interest Income
You don’t have to keep your digital currency sitting in your wallet. Staking options are available for many cryptocurrencies, including Tezos, Cardano, and Polkadot. By locking up your coins to support the network’s operations, you can earn interest on them.
You may also lend your digital coins to other users on a variety of lending services and get paid interest. Examples of platforms offering this service are Celsius Network, BlockFi, and Nexo. While keeping onto your assets, you can get passive income by earning interest on your cryptocurrency.
2. Purchasing Online
An alternate payment mechanism for online purchasing is offered by cryptocurrencies. Numerous e-commerce sites, big and small, have included cryptocurrency payments, giving customers an extra degree of protection and privacy.
Shopify and Overstock.com are just two examples of platforms that have accepted cryptocurrency payments and let you buy a variety of goods with virtual money. This solution offers the highest level of protection for your online purchases while also simplifying international transactions.
3. Put Money Into Conventional Assets
Novices often find it difficult to enter the traditional financial world due to obstacles like high minimum investment amounts and geographic restrictions. Thank goodness, digital currency have provided a fix for this. By tokenizing traditional assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate, you may now invest in them through a variety of channels.
Representing ownership of these assets as digital tokens on a blockchain is known as tokenization. You can invest as much or as little as you wish thanks to fractional ownership, which is made possible by this. It also provides access to previously unattainable assets and diversification options.
For instance, RealT is a platform that tokenizes real estate, enabling investors to use cryptocurrencies like Ethereum or Bitcoin to purchase a portion of a property. This increases accessibility and democratises real estate investing.
4. Virtual and gaming assets
Gamers of video games can also profit greatly from digital currency. In games like CryptoKitties, Decentraland, and Axie Infinity, users can exchange digital currency for in-game goods and characters. Additionally, there are online casinos where users may use cryptocurrency to test out table and slot machines. You’re not alone if you’re an avid player of poker. on learn more about how the entire process operates, see Tight Poker’s guide on crypto poker. The combination of cryptocurrency with gaming has undoubtedly given players a way to make money off of their abilities and possessions.
5. Explore the Globe
Digital Coins, like other well-known companies, has entered the tourism sector. Cryptocurrencies are now accepted as payment for flights, hotels, and other travel-related services by some progressive travel firms and airlines. For bitcoin fans, this is a great chance to spend their holdings for something useful.
For example, CheapAir was among the first to allow travellers to buy flights using Bitcoin. Even though not all travel agencies have adopted cryptocurrency, the trend is expanding and giving you more choices for using your virtual currency to book experiences in the real world.
6. Donations to Charities
In philanthropy, cryptocurrencies have found a place. Digital coins are now being accepted as donations by a large number of nonprofits and charitable institutions. Transparency, reduced processing costs, and speedier cross-border donations are just a few benefits.
Donors can trace their contributions and know exactly how their money is being used thanks to blockchain technology. The Red Cross and UNICEF are two organisations that have started cryptocurrency contribution campaigns. This guarantees that a greater amount of your money reaches individuals in need while also streamlining the giving process.
7. Collectibles with Tokens
It is possible to tokenize and represent real-world goods like rare watches and cars on a blockchain, in addition to artwork and collectibles. Physical goods are transformed into digital assets through this procedure, which facilitates their purchase, sale, and exchange for digital currency.
Artists can tokenize their creations as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on platforms like Rarible and OpenSea, and other users can purchase these tokens with cryptocurrencies. In the realm of art and collectibles, tokenized collectibles offer a new degree of liquidity that facilitates market participation for both producers and consumers.
8. DeFi (Decentralised Finance)
Among the most interesting innovations in the cryptocurrency field is DeFi. The goal of this blockchain-based financial services system is to replicate conventional financial services—such as lending, borrowing, and trading—without the need for conventional banks.
You can borrow money via DeFi using your digital tokens as collateral, or you can use them to supply liquidity to decentralised exchanges. Well-known DeFi networks are Uniswap, Aave, and Compound. People who are underbanked or unbanked can now obtain financial services thanks to DeFi, which offers more accessibility and frequently higher returns than traditional finance.
9. Smart Contracts
Self-initiating agreements that are explicitly encoded into code are known as smart contracts. Blockchain technology powers these contracts, which can be automatically carried out when certain requirements are satisfied. The processing power needed to run these contracts is paid for using digital currency, sometimes known as “gas.”
The most popular platform for developing and implementing smart contracts is Ethereum. These agreements can be used for everything from court settlements to insurance reimbursements. Smart contracts eliminate the need for middlemen and may expedite procedures across a range of businesses by offering automation, security, and transparency.
10. Peer-to-peer
A fundamental tenet of cryptocurrencies is their ability to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions devoid of middlemen. This creates a plethora of opportunities, such as the ability to pay for services without the inconvenience of conventional banking systems and send money to friends or family members abroad.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks like Paxful and LocalBitcoins allow users to transact directly with one another. Furthermore, cross-border remittances using cryptocurrency are frequently faster and less expensive than using conventional means.