Preparing for the rise of cryptocurrency
Inform your credit union’s strategy by learning about digital currency and how members are using it.
Cryptocurrency has captured the industry’s attention more in the last year than any other payments topic. Recently, the digital asset has experienced an explosion of growth. In fact, on any given day, the market cap of cryptocurrency is somewhere between $2 to $3 trillion, a level which took fintechs a decade and credit unions more than 100 years to reach.
While we aren’t seeing cryptocurrency as a popular payments option just yet, consumers are already looking to get involved, if they haven’t already. According to data from PSCU’s most recent Eye on Payments study, one in three overall respondents report they would be interested in learning more about cryptocurrency, with nearly a quarter of credit union members (24%) saying they are already active.
Credit unions have historically held back from any involvement with cryptocurrency, but the landscape is rapidly changing—making it the optimal time for credit unions to educate themselves, asses the pros and cons and develop a strategy. While the National Credit Union Administration does not currently allow credit unions to hold the value of cryptocurrency within their federally insured deposits, it recently announced that credit unions can partner with third-party cryptocurrency service providers to allow their members to buy, sell and hold digital assets under certain terms.
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