Bitcoin has established itself as one of the modern stores of value, despite arguments over its use cases in the real world. The popularity and belief in Bitcoin can be understood from the fact that even banks and remittance service providers have come around to either invest in the digital asset or realize how important the immutable form of currency has become.
Recently, Visa’s chief of Crypto, Cuy Sheffield responded to Coinbase CEO’s tweet about how technology has evolved over the century and its impact on payment services. Sheffield appreciated Coinbase CEO’s tweet thread about the impact of technology on payments but also pointed towards how he believes in the coming year's Bitcoin micropayments would become a reality.
15/ Bitcoin uniquely has a native unit of account called a "sat" that currently represents 1/100 of a cent while BTC is $10k. The brand of "sats" is far from mainstream, but it could already be the most recognizable global unit of account to represent value < 1 cent
— Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) February 16, 2020
Bitcoin: The Default Currency of the Internet
Visa Crypto head envisions Bitcoin to become the default currency of the internet. According to Sheffield, currently, there is no form of money that would allow the purchase of items costing less than a cent and he believed Bitcoin with the help of Lightning Network can resolve this issue.
Sheffield said Sats, the smallest denomination of Bitcoin will become the choice of money for the purchase of items costing less than a penny. He explained,
“Bitcoin uniquely has a native unit of account called a 'sat' that currently represents 1/100 of a cent while BTC is $10k. The brand of 'sats' is far from mainstream, but it could already be the most recognizable global unit of account to represent value < 1 cent”
Sheffield also pointed out that with enough innovation, Bitcoin would be as easily available as fiat and unlike today where people need to learn and understand many aspects before purchasing and holding Bitcoin, people would be able to simply spend Bitcoin. He said consumers, won’t have to install an application to spend Bitcoin in the future. He explained,
“To my knowledge, there isn't a single thing you can buy or pay for online today in USD for under 1 cent. Now is it possible in the future that no items, features, digital goods, or services that are valued and priced sub-one cent become popular or demanded? Maybe…”
Lightning Network Still Facing Issues
The Visa crypto chief also talked about the Lightning Network and the importance of second-layer solutions. However, up until now, Lightning has received mixed reactions from the crypto community. While developers and Bitcoin proponents have been actively promoting the second layer solution, on the contrary, those who have used the Lightning network have called it technically flawed and vulnerable to security risks.