Ignore the Naysayers, Even Conservative Investors Are Placing Big Bets on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

Many people are skeptical about Bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology, and with good reason. The skepticism surrounding Bitcoin is understandable – after all, blockchain is still in infancy, Bitcoin is massively volatile, thousands of alt-coins are springing up all over the place, and governments have not been able to work out the regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry.

However, many potential investors find it very difficult to separate genuine concerns about a fledging cryptocurrency industry from the outright lies and negative propaganda of detractors. For instance, the Internet was agog with news of how JPMorgan's James Dimon referred to Bitcoin as a "fraud" that was worse than the tulip bubble. China is also clamping down very hard on Bitcoin exchanges as part of efforts to mount pressure at the point where cryptocurrency meets fiat currency.

Despite the unending streams of attack, negativity, cynicism, and outright criticism of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency industry has displayed an impressive level of resilience. Interestingly, some facts that usually don't get a loud mention in the mainstream news media is that some stakeholders are making bold investments in the cryptocurrency industry. This piece provides insights into how seemingly conservative investors are already aligning with blockchain technology and Bitcoin.

Banks are investing in Blockchain

Banks are known to be traditionally conservative and averse to disruptive change. It is also no longer news that banks are at the forefront of riling the cryptocurrency industry. However, what many retail investors do not know is that banks are quietly making massive investments in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)) has been encouraging banks to invest in blockchain technology. In a staff discussion note from June, staff economists Dong He, Ross Leckow, and Vikram Haksar noted that "rapid advances in digital technology are transforming the financial services landscape. " The analysts also noted that "barriers to entry are changing" and "policymaking will need to be nimble, experimental, and cooperative" in order for banks to remain relevant in a fast-changing world.

Interestingly, many banks have taken the advice of the IMF and they are making investments in the cryptocurrency market. For instance, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and recently Citi have all invested in a New York-based blockchain-based startup called Axoni. Barclays, UBS, BBVA, Commonwealth Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Australia, Credit Suisse, and JP Morgan, are also part of a consortium working with R3 to set up standards for Blockchain systems.

Crytocurrency exchanges are becoming banks in principle

Many investors are still staying on the sidelines of the cryptocurrency markets because there's a lot of work to be done at the point where cryptocurrency meets fiat currency. The fact that China is also exerting more scrutiny on crytpcurrency exchanges is also not helping matters.

However, a new cryptocurrency exchange, Legolas Exchange is set to create a revolutionary platform that merges the fundamental differences between fiat transactions and cryptocurrency. Legolas is the first demonstrably fair, unassailable, and theft-proof exchange where all fiat and cryptocurrency deposits are guaranteed through a real life bank, BanQix Bank in Luxembourg.

Legolas is also particularly impressive in that it seeks to solve the biggest problem that stops cryptocurrencies from gaining mass-market adoption. A market report by Coin Telegraph shows that only 3% of cryptocurrency transactions happen within the same blockchain. About 22% of cryptocurrency transactions happen across different blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. A massive 75% of cryptocurrency transactions happen between cryptocurrency and fiat currencies.

Legolas is a hybrid exchange with a goal to bridge the gap between the 75% of transactions that happen between fiat currency and cryptocurrencies. Legolas will also facilitate seamless transactions between cryptocurrencies on different blockchains and between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies because it doesn’t stifle cryptocurrency users with low maximum amounts and high fees coupled with long delays in transaction processing times.

Legolas provides traders with a decentralized ledger tucked within a proprietary centralized platform in order to eliminate the high fees and long delays that makes it impractical to make large fiat transactions on currently existing cryptocurrency exchanges.

Fortunately, in Legolas' plan to bridge the gap between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies lies an impressive opportunity for gains in the cryptocurrency market. Investors can be sure that Legolas will succeed in bridging the gap between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. When the gap between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies eventually narrows, you can reasonably expect traditional Wall Street investors to become more confident to hold a part of their portfolio in cryptocurrency.

Legolas is planning an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) very soon in which it will issue the LGO token. The LGO token will be used to facilitate trading, transactions, fee orders, and other services on Legolas. The best part is that no further LGO token will be generated once the presale is completed; hence, you can expect the value of LGO to rise as Legolas Exchanges rises into prominence in the cryptocurrency industry.

Interestingly, the LGO token presale is shaping up to be an exclusive deal that will be open to premium investors alone. Of course, investors who get an invite from the Legolas team, advisors, and partners will also be eligible to join the presale.

In the first round of the ICO, about 20% of the total supply of LGO token will be available. Premium investors should watch out for the round 1 of the ICO in which 40% of the total supply of LGO will be sold at a price of 7,000 satoshi per LGO. You should note that the accepted cryptocurrency for Legolas' ICO is BTC.

AT&T invests in Bitcoin Blockchain

The firm behind one of the leading conservative stock investments in the market, AT&T (NYSE:T) has started making massive bets on the future of cryptocurrency. AT&T is one of the leading dividend aristocrat stocks with a long history, huge institutional ownership and a legendary history of paying dividends. David Alton Clark, a CNBC columnist observes that "AT&T is a solid long-term growth story and pays a hefty dividend of nearly 5% right now."

AT&T is the holy grail of conservative investors because it is a beacon of stability as seen in the chart above. Its stock price has declined slightly by 8.34% in the last 10 years. In contrast, the stock has delivered a dividend yield of 50.58% and a total return of 57.34% in the same period. Hence, investors will find it disconcertingly surprising that AT&T is investing heavily in a volatile Bitcoin blockchain-based technology.

However, the details of a United States Patent Application show that AT&T is investing on building a Decentralized and Distributed Secure Home Subscriber Server Device akin to Bitcoin and Blockchain.

The specifics of the patent application shows that AT&T is working on a " disclosed decentralized and distributed secure home subscriber server system can leverage the Bitcoin blockchain; the distributed database in the Bitcoin infrastructure… the disclosed decentralized and distributed secure home subscriber server system can form a public or internal Bitcoin peer-to-peer network. Within this peer to peer network each base station device can share a distributed database of transactions, the block chain."