News: The Biggest Online-Only Bank In Norway Will Allow Users To Link Their Coinbase Cryptocurrency Account To Their Banking App To Look At Their HoldingssteemCreated with Sketch.

in #bitcoin7 years ago

When banking and bitcoin meet it will be a giant step towards mainstream adoption. Maybe even the biggest or the final step. Like banks or hate them, they are the norm in a lot of major countries for how wealth and money is handled at all levels. From big investments from corporations to the weekly cheques of almost every working man and woman, almost every cent goes through a bank. In fact a lot of people rarely carry cash anymore, they use their debit and credit cards which was issued to them by a bank. They get their money sent through a bank, they get loans and mortgages through a bank and have their accounts insured by a bank. So when people can deposit and spend bitcoin(and other cryptocurrencies) through a bank like they do cash, the gap between cryptocurrency and cash will be, pretty much, closed.

The largest online-only bank in Norway (Skandiabanken) is starting to flirt with the idea of offering bitcoin services. But before you get too excited, as I was before I fully read the article, at this time, it is only offering users the ability to connect their coinbase account with their bank account so they can see where their cryptocurrencies stand. Technically yes, you could just look at your coinbase account for that but I like to see this as a positive side of where this could lead.

There is the chance it is just a gimmick to bring in users who user cryptocurrency but it could also be the start of the bank seeing where the interest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies lie. It is a safe, risk free way for them to gather information to see if this is a direction they should go in. If they are monitoring people's accounts, they can see who is investing the coin and how much money is going into it. From what I am seeing, I think banks will treat coins as they do stocks at first. They will not let users use them as they would cash but they will give them the option to buy and sell them like you would a highly-volatile stock.

The real win towards a mainstream push is when users can utilize their coins as they would cash. I think this will take time as banks need to be comfortable with the risks that come from cryptocurrencies as well as have the support from the government. But on that day, it might be game over and the moon will be only the beginning. This app from Norway could be the first step.

At the very least, it shows they are being taken seriously be a financial institution.

Want to read more, check out the article here:

http://www.coindesk.com/banks-offering-cryptocurrency-services-a-new-reality-is-arriving/

@whatageek

*my upvotes/rep disclaimer: https://steemit.com/steemit/@whatageek/my-steemit-account-where-i-stand-on-bots-self-votes-and-multiple-account

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