Has it really come to this? Bitcoin investors, who have seen the currency slide by more than 80 per cent since the end of 2017 now cannot even spend the cryptocurrency on recycling their waste.
BusinessWaste.co.uk, a British collection and disposal firm marketing itself under the slogan “the waste company that hates waste,” says it is “reluctantly” no longer accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment for its services.
Back in 2017, the group claimed it was the first refuse and recycling business to accept virtual currencies as payment, saying it wanted to “give flexibility to customers in an increasingly digital age”.
Uncertainty and Unreliability
Now it complains that the uncertainties of the market are making digital currencies an unreliable source of payment.
“Cryptocurrencies have become much more mainstream in recent years, which is why we were happy to move with the times and accept these digital forms of money as payment,” says communications director Mark Hall.
“As a business we are dedicated to being thought leaders and innovating to provide the best service to our clients, and accepting internationally-recognised digital currencies was one way we could do that.
“But, as with many emerging technologies, there are still wrinkles to be ironed out within the cryptocurrency market.”
Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, are not tied to a particular country’s economy as with standard, or fiat, currency, making them much more volatile.
In 2010, when Bitcoin made its first real-world transaction, one Bitcoin was worth less than £0.01.
By December 2017, one Bitcoin was worth more than £15,000 – a fluctuation many times higher than a fiat currency would normally experience over a seven-year period.
Following a fall in Bitcoin values, one Bitcoin is now worth more than £2,600, illustrating an intrinsic hazard of a payment method whose value works more like stocks and shares than traditional currency.
Volatility
Businesswaste.co.uk says such volatility increases the risks of accepting cryptocurrencies.
It is also concerned about scam and fake cryptocurrencies, particularly as the “white papers” verifying their legitimacy are increasingly falling victim to forgery and fraud.
“We’re reluctant to pull the plug on cryptocurrencies for now, says Hall. “But we have to think about the implications for the business.
“Market fluctuations and scams surrounding cryptocurrencies are, unfortunately, part of the current environment surrounding these digital forms of payment, and until this is no longer the case we will stick to fiat currency.”
In Defence Of Cryptocurrencies
Devotees of cryotocurrencies are unmoved by the development.
“Bitcoin fits very nicely into the philosophy of the Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek,” says Yanislav Malahov, founder and chief executive of Aeternity, a Liechtenstein-based developer of financial tools for Blockchain and the self-styled “Godfather of Ethereum, the Switzerland-based crypto currency.
“Hayek’s philosophy is about not influencing the money supply and being in favour of self-regulating markets.
“Bitcoin is very transparent and everybody knows how many tokens or coins exist and how many are traded for every block.”
BusinessWaste.co.uk’s action is unlikely to halt the cryptocurrency revolution.
Yet it is a timely reminder that innovations and the value ascribed to them by impatient stock markets rarely proceed in a linear path.
For now, businesses wanting to recycle with this waste company will have to use other instruments in their e-wallets.
