Australia hasn’t been a vibrant space when it comes down to crypto adoption in the past years. That image has changed only recently when the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) announced at the beginning of November that it is going to integrate cryptocurrency trading in its app. Now even the political debate is catching up as the financial service minister acknowledges that crypto is probably not going away.

Crypto is here to stay

During a speech that she gave on Monday, financial service minister Jane Hume said that cryptocurrencies aren’t a fad and won’t go away. She also acknowledged the fact that disruptive technology should be handled with care and that Australia shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to benefit from its upside.

According to a report from the Guardian, Hume even went that far to compare naysayers to people who believed that the iPhone wouldn’t be a game-changer or that email communication was just a fad. She warned that Australia shouldn’t be left behind because of fear or ignorance and that blockchain technology, as well as decentralized finance, could have a huge economic impact and create opportunities.

Hume’s comments are a testimony to the assessment of many analysts and experts who pointed out that the growth of the market will simply force countries as well as political actors to change their views on crypto sooner or later. With a total market cap of 2,5 trillion US-Dollars at the time of writing, crypto is becoming indeed an economic factor that is too big to be ignored.

The tides are turning

Over many years cryptocurrencies have been criticized by many politicians and government officials all over the world. But the tide is turning and more countries are exploring the opportunities the new technology holds.

Not only currencies as we used to know them are revolutionized, but there is also a lot of use-cases for the industry that holds massive potential. Among them tracking systems for supply chain management, certificates of authenticity and digital identities that serve as forged proved passports on the internet. Others include more playful aspects in a world that become more connected through digital worlds.

With Barbados opening a digital embassy in Decentraland, El Salvador going all-in into Bitcoin, and Australia’s financial service minister warning to miss out on the opportunity the signs are more than clear. And with a changing payment sector that embraces cryptocurrencies and stable coins not only for trading but also for transacting mass adoption is becoming more likely.