Crypto is not just the future of finance, but also of gaming, art and culture: Voyager Digital CEO

In an interview with the CryptoAdvisor team, Steve Ehrlich, the co-founder & CEO of Voyager Digital spoke about Bitcoin’s position as an inflationary hedge, the rise of altcoins in 2021 and how the publicly traded crypto broker is capitalising on the increasing popularity of NFTs. Here is what the expert had to say about the latest issues in the crypto world: 

1. You have spoken a lot about Bitcoin reaching the $100,000 price point. What are some of the key factors that will determine Bitcoin’s performance in reaching that level?

As crypto adoption continues, and inflation concerns rise around the U.S. dollar, we expect the value of Bitcoin to continue to increase over time, especially given its inherent scarcity with only 21 million Bitcoin to ever exist. 

It's only a matter of time until Bitcoin is used as more than just a store of value (it is already deemed "digital gold"), but also as a currency for use in everyday purchases and transactions.

More people – retail investors, companies, and institutions alike – are growing increasingly comfortable with investing and transacting with Bitcoin. I believe these positive sentiments around Bitcoin will continue trending upwards as adoption continues. 

2. Loyalty programs and customer acquisition initiatives have been at the core of what separates Voyager Digital from its competition. How do you view the role of rewards in attracting customers to the platform in particular and in furthering crypto adoption in general?

Crypto is a tool that helps people build wealth and achieve financial freedom, and we want everyone to have access to it. Unlike traditional assets, proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies inherently reward their holders. That's why Voyager offers rewards just for holding certain cryptos, making earning these rewards easy and seamless. 

Our Loyalty Program attracts customers because members get reward boosts, crypto back on their trading, and more. We're attracting consumers to our platform because the rewards we provide are significantly more than what people can get with holding their money in a bank or traditional brokerages.

By providing rewards, we are helping people earn money and build wealth, and simultaneously furthering crypto adoption because we make it easy for people to participate in the crypto markets. Our app is extremely user-friendly and simple, and people can sign up and start trading within minutes.

Everything we do at Voyager, whether it's offering rewards or offering more products, is to help foster greater crypto adoption and truly make crypto for all. 

3. Voyager’s quarter-to-quarter performance this year has been a reflection of the widespread volatility in the crypto market with coins reaching milestone highs in May, dropping in June and July and experiencing recovery to again picking up in the last month or so. How do you rate the performance of the crypto market in 2021, especially with regards to the increasing focus on altcoins?

New and emerging industries like crypto are, by their nature, volatile as they move towards mainstream adoption. The volatility attracts people, investors, and technologists who drive adoption forward and as it grows, volatility naturally decreases. 

This was a very positive year for crypto because of the mainstream attention the industry gained. People are much more familiar with crypto now than they were a year ago, and are starting to consider other coins aside from the major ones (Bitcoin and Ethereum).

2021 has been a year of growth for altcoins that have been riding the wave of crypto adoption, and we continue to add altcoins to the Voyager platform based on growing demand. 

4. Voyager has been at the forefront of introducing new tokens on the platform including Fantom, Avalanche and AMP. What process does Voyager undertake before listing a token considering the lack of clarity in the current regulatory environment?

Voyager undertakes a rigorous vetting process before listing any token. We ensure a thorough review process to ensure we list coins that have solid credentials, fundamentals, teams and have the potential to benefit our customers. 

5. Speaking of tokens, you recently listed Axie Infinity (AXS), the native token of the famed NFT gaming platform. With the increasing focus on NFTs and the metaverse, how does Voyager plan on capitalizing on these spaces? 

We believe crypto is not just the future of finance, but also of gaming, art, and culture. With the rise of NFTs, we recently listed AXS and also made an investment in Particle, a platform that enables anyone to own some of the world's greatest masterpieces by collectively participating in the art market via NFTs.

Particle divides each piece of art into 10,000 unique NFTs or "Particles," each with its own title deed stored on the blockchain. Once a buyer purchases a Particle, they receive a digital certificate, or collector’s card, representing its owner's specific ownership in the artwork.

Voyager Loyalty Program members will have first access to purchase the highly-anticipated, debut NFT collection from Particle. As part of our product roadmap, Voyager plans to deliver unique access to NFTs to our 2.7 million+ users.