Cryptocurrencies could drive emerging economies’ recovery from COVID-19: OBG

Cryptocurrencies could drive emerging economies’ recovery from COVID-19: OBG

Cryptocurrencies can play a role in emerging economies' recovery from the pandemic and its related impacts that can push digital transformation, including digital payments, forward significantly, Oxford Business Group said in a new report released on Wednesday.

According to the report, US-based Tesla announced early February that it had bought the equivalent of $1.5 billion of Bitcoin, which has been witnessing a heavy demand recently, and it announced its plans to start accepting Bitcoin as payment for its products.

On Sunday, Bitcoin reached a new high-water mark of $58,332, making its year-to-date gain more than 100 percent, rising by 305 percent over the course of 2020, according to the report.

Adopting cryptocurrencies is supported by two trends, according to the report, including people's heavy hedge to online shopping and avoiding physical cash, as well as investors who are looking to hedge against inflation, as governments ramp up spending and central banks print more money in an attempt to stimulate economic activity.

"Some have even gone so far as to argue that the rise of crypto is the beginning of the end for sovereign currency systems“, according to the report.

The report also said that cryptocurrencies can be the most