Innovation in cryptocurrencies

Innovation adoption is not a straight line. It goes in bumps and bursts, as each individual and group that can make decisions on future direction experiences their own personal 'light-bulb' moment.

In the case of blockchain technology and decentralized digital assets, that moment occurred when we first investigated whether or not it was possible for decentralized currencies to exist at all. For others, it was the rise in value of these digital assets that caught their attention. Regardless of why or how each of us made the journey, we're here.

But what about the 'rest of us?'

Those stalwart, conservative banking executives that question whether or not a digital asset is really needed, and who may not truly understand how usage of one can smooth out cross-border transactions and settle instantly? These conservative, risk-averse business-people are important to convince: Many of them, while not fully understanding what makes distributed computing tick, control the purse strings and investment direction for large corporations and financial organizations.

It turns out that, even though it's taken some time, they're edging closer - and with increasing speed - toward usage of digital assets. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued papers. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is taking an interest. The G20 has issued its current opinion on digital assets. The US Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force is open to financial innovations that can speed up commerce. Large research arms of information technology giants like SAP, CGI, and Microsoft have indicated their interest in the growing industry. Central banks and commercial banks have started signaling their more-than-academic interest in digital assets.

And remittance companies? They're leading the charge in production use of the new financial instruments in transferring value across borders, with many of them piloting Ripple's xRapid solution.

In short, the future is here, and even the most conservative technology holdouts have now started to wake up to the direction the future is taking when it comes to globally-scoped digital assets.