Bitcoin, Libra usage may normalize avoidance of credit card payments

Over time, Bitcoin has come to be appreciated and accepted in the financial industry owing to various reasons. Its decentralized manner and the absence of central control has been one of its crucial properties while the narrative of Bitcoin as a store-of-value has picked up traction over the last 2 years.

Although Bitcoin and other crypto-assets have been increasingly popular over the last few years, regulators and policymakers from around the world are still in a state of contemplation. While nations such as China are going forward with the launch of their own CBDC, the fact of the matter is most of the world has an eye on the digital asset industry.

During a recent segment of Bitcoin and Co., Lisa Neigut, Lightning Developer at Blockstream, conveyed that according to her, the anonymity of digital assets is instrumental to the sustainability of cryptos. According to Neigut, people should be able to exchange money and trade with each other without the involvement of a third party such as banks because it gives the parties involved a sense of independence. She said,

“Like people should be able to like make deals between themselves. Um, I think that’s an important thing to preserve.”

When asked about Libra and its impact on Bitcoin, Neigut said that she believes that Libra would indirectly improve the general adoption of Bitcoin and other crypto-assets because it would get people to a usage standpoint. She added that the introduction of Facebook’s digital asset could normalize the idea of avoiding credit card payments, something which will give people a better sense of how digital currency works.

However, Neigut conceded that she would rather have Bitcoin than Libra, in spite of Libra’s huge advantage as part of Facebook’s global reach.