Stripe ending Bitcoin payments: A setback that could spur interest in altcoins

Stripe, one of the first major payments companies that supported Bitcoin, has announced it will end support to BTC. Daniele Bianchi, Assistant Professor of Finance in Warwick Business School and cryptocurrency researcher believes that Bitcoin is the victim of its own succes and this is a fairly normal development  that could prove to be an opportunity for alternative coins to rise.

Dr Daniele Bianchi said: "There are signs that perhaps Bitcoin is the victim of its own success. Rising fees and longer transaction times are the natural consequence of the widespread increasing demand following the public hype and excitement surrounding it. This is bad news for the use of Bitcoin as a pure method of payment. Huge swings in price make the perfect case for not using Bitcoin as a method of payment. The fact that Stripe, the first major payments company that supported Bitcoin, is now scrapping such support is an interesting case in point. One may argue that this could be the beginning of an 'epic crash' following a demand collapse. The truth is that the increasing costs and processing times will spur interest in alternative coins and developments, rather than killing the aggregate demand. Setbacks are fairly normal in rapidly evolving markets, and the cryptocurrency one is no different."