By
Tolu Ajiboye
April 23rd, 2024
Rumors are strong that Walmart might announce its Bitcoin exposure during the next quarterly earnings report in May 2021. Here’s why Walmart can completely change the game in terms of Bitcoin (BTC) adoption.
Amid major buzz around corporates buying Bitcoin, the latest report shows that retail giant Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) has been accumulating BTC recently. The industry report shows that Walmart might soon announce it next month during its quarterly earnings report.
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Public listed companies in America have started to dabble into Bitcoin. MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR) is one of the biggest examples of such companies holding over 90K BTC coins. Simultaneously, giant conglomerates like Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) have also put their money into Bitcoin i.e. A massive 8% of its reserve cash into BTC earlier this year. If this is not enough, Tesla is also accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments against the sale of its cars.
Tesla has said that it will be holding all the Bitcoins received through its car sales proceeds. The confidence that corporates have placed in Bitcoin is unprecedented at this stage. If giants like Walmart join the game, it could be a potential game-changer for the crypto community.
But if Walmart plans to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet, it can have a major impact not only in terms of BTC adoption but also driving Bitcoin use among retail investors.
How Can Walmart Change the Bitcoin Game?
Walmart is a very popular name among the working class of America. As per Wikipedia info, Walmart is also the world’s largest company with a revenue of $548 billion. Besides, the company also has its presence in 24 countries worldwide while sourcing products from more than 100 countries.
As Bitcoin Magazine’s Clancy Rodgers writes Walmart can possibly trade further with other countries paying in BTC. This will help it save a lot of money in terms of conversion costs and other complex currency conversions with global suppliers. There is a high of it doing so since BTC use will reduce their headache of dealing with different fiat conversions. This eliminates middlemen from the process and streamlines the payment process.
The author further puts an interesting case on what if Walmart starts accepting Bitcoin payments and offers a 10% discount on making payments through BTC. In no time, soccer moms would rush and figure out how to make BTC payments thereby exponentially driving its usability.
Another fantastic example is what if Walmart starts paying its workforce in Bitcoin. As of now, Walmart has 2.2 million registered employees. Considering the minimum federal payment of $7.5 and 30 hours work week, the company shells out ~$500 million in monthly salaries. Now, if employees get an option to put 10% of their paycheck in BTC, this is a massive $50 million coming into Bitcoin every month.
Thus, Walmart entering the Bitcoin game would unlock doors on multiple different frontiers. It not just similar to any other corporate giant entering the Bitcoin game. Looking at Walmart’s massive customer base across all segments of society, it can rapidly steer ahead BTC adoption.