Jesse Pollak, the protocols lead at Coinbase, made a startling forecast in a recent interview with Decrypt at the EthCC conference in Paris: up to 8 billion individuals worldwide will utilize cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology over the next 10 years. Pollak thinks the business is poised for even more significant development despite the fact that cryptocurrency use has seen enormous rise in recent years.
Less than 10 million people are actively utilizing blockchain technology as of right now. However, Pollak predicts that this number will soar and essentially include everyone on the planet, including those who don’t now have access to the internet.
The lofty projection exceeds even Coinbase’s stated objectives for Base, its Ethereum-based layer 2 blockchain project. The project’s goal was to get “the next million developers and the next billion users on-chain,” which was widely seen as being very ambitious for a blockchain venture supported by an exchange. With Pollak’s vision, Coinbase looks to be aiming even higher, with a goal of introducing the cryptoeconomy to more than 1 billion consumers.
Pollak noted that the popularity of cryptocurrencies is now growing “right before our eyes” and predicted that the resulting technical improvements would fundamentally alter the lives of billions of people. He emphasized that one of the main advantages would be the creation of a level playing field, allowing people all over the globe to have access to the same financial goods and services regardless of where they were born.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is exerting regulatory pressure on Coinbase despite its lofty development plans. In response, the corporation is looking into potential for diversification outside of its main industry. Decentralization might be a tactical maneuver made by the Base network to accomplish this.
In an effort to grow worldwide, Coinbase has established its own exchange, Coinbase International, which is situated in Bermuda and regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA). Given that the SEC continues to monitor the company’s activities, this step gives the business more freedom in the products and services it offers.
As the cryptocurrency market develops, Coinbase is dedicated to fostering broad adoption and enabling billions of people worldwide to benefit from the potential advantages of blockchain technology. The likelihood of 8 billion people using cryptocurrencies in the next ten years makes the future of money and technology seem to be more intertwined than ever.
