Has the COVID-19 pandemic fastened the shift to cryptocurrency?

In a piece written for Bloomberg, financial historian Niall Ferguson shares his thoughts about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. While it's just his opinion of course, the piece contains some interesting comparisons with the past, about how a previous pandemic, the Black Death, hastened the speed of monetary evolution. This time, we may be seeing the demise of cash and the rise of purely digital currency. You can read it over here.

In a similar way, Covid-19 has been good for Bitcoin and for cryptocurrency generally. First, the pandemic accelerated our advance into a more digital word: What might have taken 10 years has been achieved in 10 months. People who had never before risked an online transaction were forced to try, for the simple reason that banks were closed. Second, and as a result, the pandemic significantly increased our exposure to financial surveillance as well as financial fraud. Both these trends have been good for Bitcoin.

Over the past two years, Bitcoin has crawled back out of its hole and is once again trading near all-time highs. At press time, one Bitcoin is worth $19,783.46.