Banking chiefs have watched the rise of cryptocurrencies (which are not created by states) with keen interest, as have the traditional creators of money, central banks.
Deutsche Bank Chairman Paul Achleitner said there needed to be a distinction between the technology (the blockchain) and cryptocurrencies.
“What do you want from a currency? You want it to be liquid, you want it to be stable and you want it not to be forged — now there we are in the crypto space. But central banks control the creation of money and they delegate some of that to banks … So why central banks would sit back and watch how somebody is creating money is, I think, just a temporary phenomenon,” he said.
“Still, that takes nothing away from the fundamental promises of the blockchain technology that is behind some of these cryptocurrencies. So I think we need to distinguish between the two, look away from the hype and take the long term benefits out of it,” he said.
“(We should) invest in the technology, that has a lot of potential for the remaking of the financial services, and focus on that as opposed to the short-term hype.”
