For years, business models based around micropayments have been touted as an alternative to advertising, offering a new form of revenue for all kinds of content creators, enabling users to pay for the exact quantity of services they consume. They have even been suggested as a way to create alternative insurance products, for example forms of car insurance where drivers pay per journey.

Inflationary and macroeconomic pressures will position bitcoin as a new asset that acts as a recognized store of value against inflation, says FiCAS' Ali Mizani Oskui.

Bitcoin has underpinned the next generation of currencies, while showing that central banks are not necessarily needed as administrators or gatekeepers.

Bitcoin extended recent gains in Friday trading, continuing its slow progress toward $16,000 after joining a slew of assets from oil to Asian stocks that rallied in the wake of the U.S. election.

Bitcoin showed the world that software can be open source, censorship resistant, decentralized, permissionless and borderless, says Woorton's Zahreddine Touag.

Founder Caitlin Long says the blockchain bank plans to issue a virtual currency and help hedge funds and family offices trade digital assets now that it has a special-purpose banking charter in Wyoming.

Blockchain has too many advantages over traditional payment solutions for merchants to ignore. By accepting cryptocurrency, merchants can tap into a growing multibillion-dollar market and get a taste of a cashless, borderless future, says Nash's Kellogg Fairbank.