In Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy it seems that tourist enterprises are attracted by cryptocurrencies. This is what emerges from a dialogue between The Cryptonomist and Franco Scarabaggio, independent financial advisor and also financial advisor for Crédit Agricole.
From his work as an independent financial advisor, Franco Scarabaggio has noticed a growth in the number of people who have turned to him for cryptocurrency-themed advice.
“Lignano Sabbiadoro lives on tourism, it is located on the border with Slovenia. In summer it becomes a city of 100,000 inhabitants. Tourism entrepreneurs have started asking me about cryptocurrencies, first as their investment, then because foreign tourists are asking to rent flats or charter boats by paying at least the deposits in cryptocurrencies”.
Cryptocurrencies, a change that involves also Lignano Sabbiadoro
It is an evolution that for the financial advisor is quite recent, and that coincides with the rally of Bitcoin, which started in December and climbed up to 58,000 dollars. It is an enthusiasm that is not leaving anyone out, as recounted by Franco Scarabaggio:
“For a few months now I have noticed this change. While before it was 25-30-year-olds asking me for information, now I see people of a certain age, 55-60-year-old professionals, active in the world of business, renting boats rather than flats. They have started asking me if they can make deposits by paying in cryptocurrencies. In a town like Lignano, which is also essential for the regional economy, people are starting to talk about this world: the way of doing finance is changing. Banks that don’t do fintech are being cut out of the market”.
It is a revolution that, he says, is also changing the language of finance. There are no longer just bears and bulls, but the crypto world has also brought whales and dolphins into the limelight, understood as large holders and small investors, the latter able to move the market by coordinating “in packs”, just as happened with the Gamestop case.
For someone who is a financial advisor, the change is evident when looking at portfolios:
“The ‘old’ wallets have been enriched by crypto wallets. Even within banks, we are hearing about blockchain, it is an epochal change”.
What are clients who want to invest in cryptocurrencies looking for from a financial advisor?
“They are looking for some kind of validation. It is very easy to open an account on Coinbase rather than an online bank account, it takes 10 minutes, you scan the documents, the verification starts and in a very short time you get the answer. So when you make purchases you get a quick response, much quicker than with banks”.
Among the cryptocurrencies requested is obviously Bitcoin, but not only:
“They ask me about Bitcoin, which is very popular, but also about Cardano (ADA). Many people have asked me about Dogecoin (DOGE), especially after Elon Musk’s statements. Someone also mentioned Ripple (XRP)”.
What do people who come to an independent financial advisor want to know? According to Franco Scarabaggio, those who come to him want to clear up doubts and uncertainties:
“When it comes to business and money they want their doubts dispelled. ‘Is this a scam, am I doing right, am I doing wrong, am I risking a bubble tomorrow?’ The advice I give, and that I offer to all investors in the traditional financial world, is to enter in small steps, diversifying, with multiple currencies. There is the possibility to do it with the so-called DCA and accumulation plans, and these allow to schedule investments of for example 100 or 50 euros once a month, because there is something for every budget and at the end, you can choose to put half in the bank and half in the crypto wallet”.
And it is with these small steps that the world of finance is changing radically.
