Lendedu: Institutional Investors Increasingly Want In on Mobile Payments Tech Cryptocurrency

For those who follow the cryptocurrency market, perhaps the newest class in the mobile payments market, you know that there have been three major points holding the market back. The lack of institutional investment, the overall negative perception of cryptocurrency, and the lack of use cases beyond investment. One of these is about to buckle, according to a new report sent our way from Lendedu, who noted that institutions want very much to get in on the crypto stakes.

One major point the study asked was “If it was offered, would you invest in virtual currency through the brokerage accounts you have (listed in a prior question)?”. Interest in such a move proved high; 23 percent of respondents said “Yes, definitely” while 29 percent came in slightly less sure with “Most likely.” Those opposed, meanwhile, were split between the 16 percent who said “Most likely not” and the six percent who said “Definitely not.” The remaining 26 percent, meanwhile, came in at “not sure.”

It got more interesting from there; 59 percent were between likely and definitely ready to scale back their traditional stock purchases in favor of cryptocurrency, while just 15 percent were between not likely and definitely not. Definitely not, in fact, just drew one percent of respondents, showing a clear and present interest in laying cash into cryptos.

This makes it clear that traditional brokerages could do land-office business if they added cryptocurrency to their purchase options. The first one that does it lands an incredible first-mover advantage; with so much pent-up demand, offering cryptocurrency to the retail investor would mean huge profit afoot. With regulators gumming up the works, though, we may not even see the first brokerage even try it soon. Yet if it were as easy to buy Litecoin as it is to buy shares of AT&T, it would likely scrub away any notion that cryptocurrency is pretty much just for criminals, which would address the second major restraint on this market.

Still, it’s a safe bet the market won’t be denied forever, and if institutions get in on the action it will launch a whole new wave of demand. The Lendedu reports suggest that early adopters and HODLers may be in for some real reward.