{"id":9227,"date":"2022-03-12T16:05:34","date_gmt":"2022-03-12T16:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/in-defense-of-crypto-why-digital-currencies-deserve-a-better-reputation\/"},"modified":"2022-03-12T16:05:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-12T16:05:36","slug":"in-defense-of-crypto-why-digital-currencies-deserve-a-better-reputation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/in-defense-of-crypto-why-digital-currencies-deserve-a-better-reputation\/","title":{"rendered":"In defense of crypto: Why digital currencies deserve a better reputation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ever since its inception and throughout its turbulent journey toward mainstream acceptance, crypto has elicited both enthusiasm and trepidation in equal measure. After the unfair battering it has received over the years, the time has come to defend digital currencies.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for crypto, first impressions count. Bitcoin (BTC) initially gained a tawdry reputation in its early years as the currency of choice for illicit activities \u2014 favored by dark web users, ransomware hackers, drug traffickers and money launderers worldwide.<\/p>\n
But, the world has changed since the first Bitcoin was mined in January 2009. There are now more than 18 million of them in circulation, and more than 90,000 people have $1 million or more stashed away in Bitcoin, according to cryptocurrency data-tracking firm Bitinfocharts.<\/p>\n
There are, indeed, signs that crypto is, at last, gaining mainstream acceptance. Just last year, El Salvador declared Bitcoin as a legal tender in September and in October, the first Bitcoin futures-linked exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Payments giant Visa also launched a Global Crypto Advisory Practice in December, helping financial institutions advance their own crypto journey.<\/p>\n