Blockchain.com Launches Pound Sterling Payments Gateway for Brexit-Bound Brits

United Kingdom-based cryptocurrency data and wallet provider Blockchain.com has added a British pound gateway to its crypto exchange, The Pit.

On Dec. 19, Xen Baynham-Herd - executive vice president of product at Blockchain - told Cointelegraph that with Brexit on the horizon, the exchange has seen a record number of first-time deposits from U.K. users.

The Pit's new gateway will now allow users to purchase crypto using British pounds via the U.K.'s Fast Payments Scheme - an infrastructure designed to provide near-instant transaction settlement times for payments between different British banks.

"Bitcoin, despite being virtual, is the world's hardest asset. Throughout history, savvy investors have relied on hard assets to manage risk and protect long-term value in the face of instability and economic downturns."

With Johnson's recent, controversial decision to legislate against any extension of the U.K.'s Brexit transition period, the country is now facing the renewed threat of a disorderly, cliff-edge style divorce with the continent.

"An event like Brexit, a global recession, or sovereign debt restructuring, could motivate more people to adopt Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies."

An insurance policy in crisis-ridden timesBaynham-Herd's argument has been echoed by Travis Kling - an equities portfolio manager turned crypto fund executive - who has argued that Bitcoin has come into its own as a unique hedge within the present macroeconomic climate.

As a "Non-sovereign, hard cap supply, global, immutable, decentralized digital store of value," Kling claimed that the coin provides an exceptional insurance policy against monetary and fiscal irresponsibility from central banks and governments globally.

Analysts of different stripes have made the case for non-traditional assets like cryptocurrencies during these "Interesting" macroeconomic times.

This summer, the head of global fundamental credit strategy at Deutsche Bank claimed that central banks' controversially dovish policies were positively impacting alternative currencies like Bitcoin.