Morgan Stanley Says Bitcoin Is Close To Being A Currency: Report

Morgan Stanley said the integration of Strike and BlackHawk Network lets bitcoin enter physical locations, which makes up 85% of U.S. transactions.

• Morgan Stanley has reportedly said bitcoin has reached an important milestone in being widely used as a currency.
• Strike integrating with the BlackHawk network allows bitcoin to enter the physical locations of shops and restaurants which still make up 85% of U.S. transactions.
• Low transaction costs and merchant adoption will likely lead to less volatility in the chosen asset over time, Morgan Stanley reportedly stated.

Morgan Stanley, one of the largest global banks in the world, recently stated that bitcoin has reached an important milestone to be more widely used as a currency, according to a report from CoinDesk.

The report states that Strike, a fintech payment processor for the Bitcoin Lightning Network, integrating with BlackHawk Network, the largest payment processor in the world, paves the way for bitcoin to cement itself as a medium of exchange.

Morgan Stanley reportedly said that the “evolution of bitcoin usage as a medium of payment” will be fueled by the ability of consumers to choose paying with BTC through Lightning in physical locations, rather than only being able to use the peer-to-peer (P2P) currency online.

The banking giant further explained that sending small payments is more practical with Lightning than with debit cards as the Bitcoin second-layer network can route transactions while charging almost no fees.

Low transaction fees and open accessibility make adoption easier for merchants, which Morgan Stanley thinks will lessen the burden of volatility as the continued acceptance of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as a means of payment might lead to a fall in their volatility, according to the report.

Strike CEO Jack Mallers announced the company’s integration with BlackHawk at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in a riveting presentation of monetary history and its lack of innovation over the last few decades.

One interesting component of this integration is that Strike leverages Bitcoin, the network, to allow merchants to never touch bitcoin, the asset, as a means of payment. As a result, the consumer can spend their BTC while the merchant receives dollars with nearly zero fee deduction and at the same time doesn’t need to worry with additional accounting requirements.