The suits are coming

Government regulation in the bitcoin space will give banks the confidence to start working with bitcoin businesses, says Allaire. But that’s not the only important change that needs to occur so that bitcoin can enter the mainstream: bitcoin needs Wall Street.

The birth of bitcoin has been tied by some to the economic crash that began in 2007. With the reputation of the financial sector ruined, a new currency that bypassed the banks always had a good chance of being a winner.

The idea that Wall Street may have a role to play in bitcoin’s development is “heresy” to certain members of the community, admits Allaire. However, if bitcoin trading is to develop, it needs Wall Street’s input.

“What I’ve found is that there are so many really talented and smart people in that industry that want to get into this industry. They see what its potential is,” he says.

“You’re going to see an injection of Wall Street knowledge-based skill sets, technical sets, coming into this space, that ultimately will benefit everyone because it will create products from a trade perspective that are more mature.”

Allaire’s vision is that bitcoin will be as easy to use, and as widespread, as the financial services we take for granted today, as physical cash even. That’s not to say he sees bitcoin as merely a like-for-like replacement for our current financial systems.

He talks about “unifying the world more deeply on a common internet-based monetary system” and says that privacy is a “critical ideal that needs to be held up.” However, in its current form, the currency doesn’t appeal to enough people.

Widespread appeal

“The users of bitcoin, I hate to say it, they’re men aged 25-40. Typically, they’re hi-tech focused people; that’s not the whole world,” he says.

via Jeremy Allaire: Regulators, Wall Street and Bitcoin Hitting the Mainstream.