NEWS
IBS Journal October 2017
19
Bitcoin suffers drop below $3,000 as Chinese crackdown rumours persist
R
umours about a Chinese crackdown on Bitcoin has led to the cryptocurrency’s price experiencing a sudden drop below $3,000.
The currency is trading at $3,592, almost 6% lower than its value last week. The stomach-churning price drop occurred following reports that Chinese regulators would require exchanges to voluntarily shut Bitcoin trading.
In the ensuing sell-off, Bitcoin’s price plummeted to below $3,000, the first time it has dipped below this level in more than a month. Within a few hours, the price had recovered to pre- crash levels. Despite the lurch, analysts aren’t too worried about ongoing Chinese crackdowns.
Josh Olszwicz, a Bitcoin trader, told Business Insider that as long as the underlying blockchain isn’t tampered with, there
isn’t much to fear: “The Bitcoin cash shakeup was much more worrisome from my perspective, but even then the core Bitcoin protocol remained unaffected.”
Bitcoin experienced a split in August this year, following disagreement over the future of the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Cash had been a relatively unknown solution, until it suddenly exploded in popularity. The system replicates all of the Bitcoin blockchain on a new platform, yet speeds the system up by increasing the size of blocks by eight times.
These larger mining pools are thought to be very popular in China, which accounts for a vast majority of Bitcoin transactions. Due to the history replication, users of Bitcoin will automatically receive the Bitcoin Cash equivalent of the number of coins they had on the Bitcoin platform. There are fears that this eventuality might dilute the price of both new currencies.
Biometrics gaining popularity as online payments flourish
F
ollowing the announcement of the latest iPhone’s facial recognition feature, 63% of consumers would like to use biometrics to authorise payments in-store, and 69% would do it with a fingerprint scan. Other less popular alternatives are via facial recognition (24%), iris (33%), and voice (18%).
This comes as rapid growth in the use of contactless cards will lead to notes and coins being overtaken as Britain’s most frequently used payment method by the end of 2018.
“Today’s digitally-driven consumers want the way they shop to be consistent across every channel, including how they identify themselves when making a payment,” said James Frost, UK CMO at WoldPay. “As biometric identification becomes a standard across smartphone devices, the combination of these two technologies is starting to win the battle for hearts and minds when it comes to simplicity, convenience, and seamlessness across all channels.”
According to Worldpay, this research coincides with a predicted trend in the popularity of biometrics, as brick-and-mortar retailers attempt to offer the same level of speed, simplicity and convenience as online retailers. Worldpay’s research shows that modern technology has made today’s consumer far less tolerant of delays when buying goods.
This year’s Worldpay Consumer Behaviour and Payments Report highlights the importance of “free” convenience, with options like click and collect in-store without an extra charge; 60% of consumers would abandon the purchase if this was not the case.
The report also states that younger people (65%) say they’d rather pay a robot than waste time flagging down a waiter when paying for a meal out. These younger consumers tend to be more loyal to a shop with good customer experience than people over 35.
Similarly, consumers now are more sensitive to spam and email flooding campaigns. They also value mobile point of sale devices, although only 31% have seen these.
“Today’s consumers are arguably more demanding of retailers than at any time in the past. As technology continues to evolve, the pressure on retailers to deliver a consistent, personalised and convenient experience across every channel, will only increase,” Frost added.
“Stores need to find a way to reconnect with consumers. That means deploying technologies which remove bottle-necks, particularly at the point of sale, and freeing staff to get out from behind the till and talk to customers on the shop floor.”
www.ibsintelligence.com
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