Perhaps the biggest and most-talked about developments in the financial and technology sectors over the last 12-18 months has been the stunning rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in price, as well as in terms of public attention. Of course, this is not entirely new territory for cryptocurrencies, as there had been a similar spike in the price of Bitcoin back in 2017, but this had been followed by a huge crash as well in 2018, which put off a lot of people from the crypto space. That is the biggest difference between that rally and this one – that more and more people, businesses and industries are looking at cryptocurrencies, as well as blockchain, to provide solutions to a variety of problems. These are not related just to finance and money – we are seeing blockchain being used to solve supply chain problems in healthcare, for example. Thus, the various applications that crypto and blockchain have are proving to be extremely exciting across various domains, and this has been especially true in Canada, which has been very enthusiastic about adopting cryptocurrencies.
Canada is seeing a lot of crypto adoption, both among individuals and businesses, and this is also sparking a move towards considering crypto and blockchain for providing innovative solutions to problems, many of which have actually come to the fore in the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic. We are seeing this spark a move towards crypto for various industries as well, with one of them being the online gambling sector. Various online gambling operators have begun to offer cryptocurrency gambling, where players can place bets on casino table games through cryptocurrencies. This sort of BTC online casino in Canada has become extremely popular, while operators are also using blockchain to improve their operations and increase the safety and reliability of their transactions.
Another such sector where these innovations are being considered is the world of retail. One of the biggest problems for retailers, not just in Canada but all over the world, has been with connecting to the younger generation. Young people today are using social media to make their buying decisions, which means that older forms of marketing and advertising are not relevant to them anymore. It is here that cryptocurrencies can help, as has been seen with the example of a Swedish outdoor goods company. Fjallraven, the company in question, has a fox as its logo, so it introduced a cryptocurrency called the Fox Coin, and set up virtual treasure hunts for people to gather these coins, by using their smartphones on a scavenger hunt of sorts. This month-long promotional exercise also gave participants the chance to win a Kanken, one of the brand’s most popular backpacks, on a daily basis. This was an excellent way to maximize the effect of cryptocurrencies in alignment with the brand, since it made people go outside to look for the coins, which is what an outdoor goods company would want. The use of the fox also created instant brand recall and attachment, and thus this is a great example of a retailer using crypto to market to the younger generations.
Blockchain is also a good way to improve transparency in terms of the product supply chain, since more and more customers are conscious about the origins of the products they consume. This can be done through a simple QR code on the product, which can be scanned by a smartphone to provide a complete history of the product and its various raw materials and their sources.
Lastly, cryptocurrency is also providing retailers with more payment options, which are proving to be quite attractive for customers. The Birks Group, for example, a luxury Canadian jewelry brand, has recently announced that people can pay through Bitcoin at some of its stores, through BitPay.
These are just some of the ways in which crypto and blockchain are changing the retail landscape in Canada.
