Bitcoin Achieves New Milestone As It Finds Wider Acceptance As A Currency: Morgan Stanley

As interest in cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment surges for businesses and consumers, investment bank Morgan Stanley said crypto has achieved a new milestone in its journey to being mainstream.

In a research report seen by CoinDesk, Morgan Stanley highlighted that the recent partnership between payment company Strike, point-of-sales provider NCR and payment firm Blackhawk Network allowed for a large number of stores and restaurants in the U.S. to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.

It also paved the way for the number one cryptocurrency in the world to secure itself as a medium of exchange. The collaborations between cryptocurrency companies and brick-and-mortar stores are a crucial "milestone" in the "evolution of bitcoin usage as a medium of payment" since over 85% of sales in the U.S. take place in shops, the investment firm noted.

The research report also underlined that said evolution would be propelled by customers' ability to prefer paying with Bitcoin via the Lightning network in physical stores. The fee for sending a Bitcoin using the Lightning network is close to zero, along with open accessibility of the new payment alternative will allow for an easier adoption among merchants, according to Morgan Stanley.

The continued acceptance of Bitcoin, along with other cryptocurrencies, will reduce the burden, if not lead to a fall in the crypto assets' volatility, the investment firm said.

Strike CEO Jack Mallers announced last month during the Bitcoin Conference 2022 in Miami the partnership with BlackHawk via a presentation. The 27-year-old influential innovator also announced his company's partnership with e-commerce giant Shopify at the event.

"You’re going to be able to walk into a grocery store, to Whole Foods, to a Chipotle, if you want to use a Lightning node over Tor, you do that,” Mallers envisioned. "You want to use the Cash App? You do that," he told the conference attendees.

Bitcoin was trading down 3.13% at $40,565.85 with a 24-hour volume of $851,282,177,810 as of 4:25 a.m. ET on Friday based on the data from CoinMarketCap.