The alleged plans by Revolut to enable Bitcoin withdrawals may serve as a reference point for other firms to trail the same path.
London-based financial technology company Revolut may be about to take a U-turn from what is obtainable amongst competing payment firms by allowing users to make direct withdrawals of Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital currencies it supports. According to a report made by Forbes, the hint about Revolut’s likelihood to support digital asset withdrawals was revealed in a leaked blog post that was swiftly caught by altfi.
Most fintech giants who are known to back Bitcoin over time have all been faulted for the monopoly they exhibit when it comes to Bitcoin withdrawals. They want you to buy and sell the cryptocurrency from them, with options to transfer to external parties or addresses impossible. For this, the firms including Robinhood, and Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) amongst others have come under serious criticisms for this. Crypto proponents believe monopolizing transactions regard digital currencies works directly against the core tenets of decentralization and freedom upon which the blockchain infrastructure is built.
Revolut appears resolute to change this narrative and per the leaked blog post slated for the coming Thursday, the withdrawal is bound to start with Bitcoin while support for the other cryptocurrencies is meant to follow suit. “We’re starting with Bitcoin, but we’ll be adding more tokens and upgrades in the near future,” the leaked post revealed.
Revolut Bitcoin Withdrawals to Usher in Similar Moves
The alleged plans by Revolut to enable Bitcoin withdrawals, if it becomes a reality, may serve as a reference point for other firms to trail the same path. While Cash App from Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) trailed the blaze by enabling Bitcoin withdrawals as far back as 2019, the move by Revolut at a time when the institutional interest in the cryptocurrency is high may stir more pressure on competing outfits to make similar moves.
The growth of cryptocurrencies beginning in the tail end of 2020, has seen the global crypto market cap surge north of $2 trillion, with many altcoins including Binance Coin (BNB) and meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE) seeing tremendous rallies to unprecedented levels. For the latter cryptocurrency, billionaire investor, Mark Cuban noted earlier on Ellen DeGeneres show that Robinhood, by preventing third party transactions is stiffening the growth of Dogecoin.
“Doge is the one coin that people actually use for transactions,” he said. “We take many others via @BitPay. But people spend their Doge and that means more businesses will start taking it. The greatest inhibitor to its growth is that you can’t spend the Doge you buy on Robinhood.”
Robinhood in defense noted it is working towards enabling withdrawals for all its supported digital currencies and not just for Dogecoin. This plan may be fast-tracked if Revolut, a renowned competitor makes the move first.
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