Benjamin de Waal, founder of Bitcoiner Consulting, says widespread adoption of Bitcoin is fast approaching, so businesses need to be proactive and begin integrating it into their operations.
Dresden, Germany --News Direct-- Prodigy Press Wire
Among the numerous cryptocurrencies that have emerged over the past decade or so, few are as well-known or widely used as Bitcoin. Launched to the public in 2009 by an anonymous developer (or group of developers) known as Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin has been one of the most impactful discoveries in the history of finance. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, followed by the Central African Republic in 2022.
Unlike other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is a trustless system, because it is based on a set of mathematical formulas that anybody can go and examine. All of the code is open-source and open-standard. There are no centralized servers and no entity behind it who can one day change their mind and turn it off. This is another characteristic that separates Bitcoin from other popular cryptocurrencies, which still maintain some degree of centralization behind them, making them vulnerable to being used in scams.
Despite fluctuations in its value, there is a growing trend of Bitcoin adoption, and more entities are beginning to accommodate the use of Bitcoin in their operations. Due to the fundamental differences between Bitcoin and fiat currencies, businesses need to make many changes to their infrastructure in order to fully embrace Bitcoin. These changes can be very complicated, requiring expert knowledge to implement.
Benjamin de Waal, founder of Bitcoiner Consulting, is one such expert. He is one of the few people who have been involved with Bitcoin since 2010, very soon since its introduction. In 2013, de Waal dove deeper into Bitcoin, becoming more involved with the technology and economic theory. He has been so involved with Bitcoin that, in 2017, he switched to it as his personal standard, not holding any other currency in his accounts. If he needs to pay for something in a currency outside of Bitcoin, he has to convert it from his Bitcoin wallet.
“As an advocate for wider adoption of Bitcoin, I don’t just talk the talk, I also walk the walk,” de Waal says. “With my background and software development, I understand what businesses need to do in order to effectively integrate Bitcoin into their operations.”
According to de Waal, Bitcoin is a solution to many economic problems today, including rampant inflation. With fiat currencies, such as the US Dollar or the Euro, governments have central control over them and can print more money, devaluing that currency. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has a fixed supply. De Waal says that there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins, each divisible into 100 million Satoshis, in existence. Thus, the supply schedule for Bitcoin is absolutely determined, no questions asked. According to de Waal, that's an incredibly positive thing from an economic standpoint, because people no longer have to worry about a centralized entity changing the supply of currency.
De Waal adds that another advantage of Bitcoin is that it is a permissionless system, democratizing the access to money. In some countries, women cannot open a bank account without permission from their husband. Meanwhile, some countries’ currencies are controlled by a different country, leaving them beholden and vulnerable to other governments’ decisions, resulting in some form of economic colonialism. Adopting Bitcoin, he says, empowers people by giving access to money to people who are otherwise unable to.
Bitcoiner Consulting works with a wide variety of clients in adopting Bitcoin. On one end, de Waal works on projects such as a corner shop that would like to accept Bitcoin securely and safely. He helps them set up the appropriate software, including some kind of cold storage to store the funds in. He also allows them to create a cashier terminal system that can receive Bitcoin but not spend it, reducing the likelihood of pilferage. Another project involves a video game arcade owner who wanted to allow players to spend Bitcoin rather than putting a coin into the slot.
On the higher end, de Waal has worked with several multinational companies to adopt Bitcoin as an internal remittance system. This allows them to move money between entities in different locations within their company without having to pay any remittance or exchange fees, resulting in massive savings.
Most of the time, de Waal works with clients remotely from his base in Germany, but he can also fly out to physically oversee projects, especially complex and large-scale ones. He also conducts training courses to educate a company’s personnel about Bitcoin. These people, in turn, will train the rest of the company’s workforce and facilitate organizational adoption.
“Business-wide Bitcoin adoption takes time to do correctly, so it's best to start early, especially if a business wants to be ahead of the competition,” de Waal says. “When the time comes that customers are approaching a business and saying they want to spend Bitcoin, but the business is unable to, they will lose customers to the competition. Implementing it early gives them a first mover advantage. Secondly, Bitcoin’s value has always trended upward, despite some periods of volatility. Holding Bitcoin on their balance sheet can help a company make money and increase their market value.”
Looking forward, de Waal wants to grow Bitcoiner Consulting beyond a solo venture and scale its operations, allowing it to serve more businesses amid growing Bitcoin adoption. De Waal is also forming a referral network with other consultants, each contributing their specific areas of expertise. For example, while de Waal is an expert on the software development side, he is not an expert in taxation or regulation. This network will allow him to refer his clients to experts in these areas, solving businesses’ various concerns regarding Bitcoin.
“The future of Bitcoin is looking bright,” says de Waal. “In the near future, more and more countries are going to adopt it as legal tender. We're getting close to a point where there's going to be a massive shift towards Bitcoin. If people and businesses want to be ahead of the curve, now is the time to get involved with Bitcoin in some way. Because, if they wait another year or more, they might become just part of the crowd and they're not going to be the innovators and leaders in their fields.”
Media Contact:
Name: Benjamin de Waal
Email: [email protected]
There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security, or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. It is your responsibility to determine whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. Consult your business advisor, attorney, or tax advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation.
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