The great benefit of having an XRPayNet card is the way it can convert multiple fiat currencies into crypto and back again, providing a far greater array of opportunities for spending your crypto on ‘real world’ goods and services, from hotel stays and luxury items to simple shopping while on your travels for business or pleasure.
Some crypto investors, especially those who travel a lot from country to country, might find this invaluable. Others, however, might wonder if they can soon be able to manage without it, given that there has been so much expansion in the use of crypto.
This notion would hold that, as more and more people invest in and hold cryptoassets, the demand to be able to exchange them for mainstream consumer goods and services will become irresistible. This will lead to the widespread adoption of crypto as an alternative and parallel means of exchange in multiple countries.
No Sign Of Crypto Becoming Mainstream Currency
In reality, the answer is no. Such a world may be theoretically part of the future, but the reality is that there is little sign of it as yet. Crypto as a hard currency is very exceptional. Not only is this not happening in most places, but there may be good reasons to believe that some nations are highly resistant to this.
This is worth noting because not everyone is following the lead of the United States. In his first term, Donald Trump was sceptical about crypto. The Biden administration was very cautious and keen to regulate strongly, with widespread concerns that crypto may be misused fraudulently.
Much of this may have changed in the US as Mr Trump switched to a pro-crypto stance ahead of his return to the White House and instigated measures like the Bitcoin reserve and the GENIUS Act. But the US remains a long way from using crypto as a regular currency alongside the Dollar.
Latin American Exceptions
Elsewhere, there have been some very different approaches. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin legal currency. In Venezuela, cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are now being used as hard currency amid hyperinflation, much as many economies in such strife have used the US Dollar as hard currency.
These countries, however, are the exception, facing economic difficulties and bearing little resemblance to the advanced, stable economies where many crypto investors usually travel, such as in North America, Europe, or parts of Asia. In the Venezuelan case, the enmity with the US means dollarization is not the option it might be for other floundering economies.
Tax And Regulatory Reforms In Eastern Europe
Other parts of the world with some interesting recent developments include Ukraine and Romania. The first of these is not, of course, a place many will venture on holiday or business just now. But the country has taken an interesting approach to crypto.
As Ukrinform reports, the legislation sets the crypto market on a legal footing for the first time, but it also sets out to tax cryptoassets differently from other assets and earnings. For example, no VAT will be levied on the placing, selling, exchange or redemption of virtual assets, except for certain items like non-fungible tokens.
Ukraine may be doing this at a time when it cannot function normally as a country, although it will be looking forward in the hope of a better future when it can. Across the border and safely inside NATO and the EU, Romania is a different case.
However, this is not a case of a country taking a very crypto-friendly line, with Romania Insider reporting that cryptocurrency earnings are set to be hit with increased taxes.
Why XRP Cards Remain Invaluable
In many regards, such developments may tell us little about the long-term future of how crypto will be used in various economies. However, if the focus in many cases is on regulation, or reforms to the taxation system to maximise government income (or use tax breaks to encourage investment), this indicates different priorities to places like El Salvador.
Above all, there is no underlying implication that changes to regulations in the US, like the GENIUS bill or amendments to tax law in Eastern European countries, raise any prospect of crypto becoming a mainstream currency in most countries anytime soon. They simply don’t go anywhere near that far.
Instead, they amount to governments devising policy responses to the rise of crypto to establish its place as an asset class first and foremost, not as an everyday alternative to fiat currency. They have defined the place of crypto within the economy, without making it a fully-fledged rival to the fiat currency.
That is why, unless all your upcoming trips are going to be to El Salvador or Venezuela, the wonderful facility offered by an XRP card to turn crypto into fiat currency is not only invaluable now, but will remain so long into the future, perhaps forever.
By getting an XRP Card today, you can ensure your crypto goes much further and can be converted into currencies across the world, with instant conversion and extraordinary convenience.