American banking and investment firm Lion Tree has stated that it is looking into accepting crypto as a means of payment in the future.
Lion Tree Says It’s Looking into BTC Payments
The whole idea behind bitcoin and its many crypto counterparts was that they would eventually be used as spending tools. They would ultimately outdo the abilities of credit cards, fiat currencies, and checks to serve as the means of buying goods and services for everyday needs.
However, this has been a rather slow journey considering how many times bitcoin and related altcoins have shown themselves to be vulnerable to heavy price swings. As a result, many companies have refused to accept crypto as a means of payment, and to a degree, we can’t really blame them.
Consider the following scenario: a person walks into a store and decides to buy $50 worth of merchandise with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the participating retailer cannot change the BTC into fiat over the course of 24 hours, and within a day, the price of bitcoin falls. Thus, that $50 turns into $30. While the customer still gets to keep everything they bought, the store has lost profit. Is this a fair situation? Many don’t think so, and bitcoin has gotten something of a bad rap in recent years with retailers and store operators.
The fact that a firm as big as Lion Tree is now considering crypto payments in the future will likely push digital assets deeper into mainstream territory. Chairman and CEO Aryeh Bourkoff discussed the story of Constitution DAO using crypto to bid on a copy of the U.S. Constitution. It was this incident that really got him excited and considering crypto seriously for the first time.
He says:
I love this story not only because I agree that an original copy of the U.S. Constitution should be accessible to all Americans, but because it epitomizes the potential of the new economy: cutting-edge technology at the service of communities who can act upon their shared ideas not only recreationally, but in ways that create lasting value.
Crypto Can Do a Lot for Consumers
Bourkoff is confident that crypto can assist in the empowerment of individuals and give them freedom from standard financial institutions and government control, though he believes there should be a bit of regulation in the mix to ensure traders remain safe. He comments:
Globally, countries will have to balance regulation and innovation and weigh their desire to attract the next generation of entrepreneurs against their urge for control through centralized currencies.
Lion Tree was involved in some of this year’s largest media transactions. The company advised AT&T when it proposed a merger between Warner Media and Discovery Inc. It also worked with MGM through its $8.45 billion sale to Amazon, the largest retailer in the world.
