After a meteoric rise and fall, much of the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies has disappeared from mainstream discourse. But that may not mean professional services companies can still afford to write it off, according to Danny Barlow, founder and chief executive of LondonLink.
The paradox of cryptocurrencies is that the most attractive salespeople are the ones who don’t shout about it. Companies using cryptocurrencies tend not to go to social media to “pump and dump” the latest coins. They are busy leveraging the unique capabilities of cryptocurrencies to transform operations, reduce costs, and remove barriers to cross-border transactions.
These companies, your potential customers, are the best crypto advocates you’ve never heard of. The question for professional services companies is not what they themselves think about cryptocurrencies, but whether they can ignore a huge market of potential customers who have already made up their minds. According to industry analysis, more than $7 trillion will be transferred via stablecoins in 2023, a 10x increase since June 2020.
consider cryptography
we don’t deny it. Cryptocurrency can be complicated for many reasons. When it comes to customers and clients, the main motivation is quite simple. It’s about doing business better.
First, let’s talk about organization. Crypto encompasses a wide range of electronic money, but the most important distinction is between freely floating decentralized coins (such as Bitcoin) and coins pegged to fiat currency, known as stablecoins. While Bitcoin has strong business use cases, stablecoins have the most obvious, immediate and transformative utility for businesses.
The advantage of stablecoins is that they have a familiarity with “traditional” money, but can be operated much more efficiently. Like other blockchain-based currencies, stablecoins bypass traditional fiat infrastructure. It eliminates intermediaries and enables near-instantaneous, low-cost transactions between two parties anywhere in the world. The benefits are clear. Professional services firms suddenly have the ability to tap into new markets that were previously not possible due to business costs (or capital restrictions).
Is it safe?
If the superpowers of cryptocurrencies sound like miracles, and they are, you might still be wary of their historical association with financial crime. Certainly, there are some dark use cases for criminals. But that doesn’t make cryptocurrencies any more illegal than the existence of other digital services used by criminal organizations (and, for that matter, the perennial favorite of criminals: cash).
There are good reasons why gangs don’t use mainstream cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is not as “anonymous” as it is made out to be. Bitcoin transactions can be tracked, and stablecoins are just as transparent as government money, if not more so. That’s exactly how it should be, and that’s why financial regulators around the world are changing their view of cryptocurrencies. They once deprecated it in the strongest terms. We are now slowly but inevitably moving towards regulating cryptocurrencies, with some central banks even issuing their own blockchain-powered digital currencies.
According to Chainaries, a blockchain analysis tool favored by governments and law enforcement, cryptocurrency transactions accounted for just 0.34% of illegal transaction volume. Meanwhile, the United Nations estimates that between 2% and 5% of the world’s GDP is laundered every year.
How can I use cryptography?
There’s no easy answer to that question. After all, you know your business and market better than we do. Still, the principles we’ve outlined should give you a good idea of how cryptocurrencies can be transformative for consulting and professional services firms.
Let me give just one example. Imagine a Swiss conveyancing lawyer trying to execute a sale of real estate to someone in Türkiye. This transaction is tedious and time-consuming, with many hurdles and delays, and various fees and exchange costs. And not to mention the huge volatility in the Turkish Lira that buyers should be prepared for. Months of trading.
All such costs, volatility, and friction are instantly ignored when transactions are made via a stablecoin. What makes cryptocurrencies so exciting for consulting firms, and why they represent a true revolution in financial matters, is that cryptocurrencies are more than just a basket of currencies, they can open up new markets and unlock the potential of any business, anywhere in the world. This means that it is a completely new financial infrastructure that will transform the financial infrastructure. customer.
Adopt it or not – but don’t ignore it
It’s okay to have reservations about cryptocurrencies. The whole ethos, the whole culture of cryptocurrencies is based on doing your own research. It won’t solve all problems, but it could streamline cross-border transactions and open up new markets.
That’s exactly what the entire business (and consumer) population around the world has been doing before landing firmly in the crypto camp. And it’s not just potential customers, but major competitors as well. Some of the world’s biggest companies and institutions, from PwC and Deloitte to Magic Circle law firms like Baker McKenzie and even central banks, are already investigating new business use cases for cryptocurrencies.
However, it is not our responsibility to change your mind. Our real advice when it comes to cryptocurrencies is to listen carefully to the loudest voices.
