The head of the Bank for international settlements (BIS), Agustin Carstens (Agustin Carstens) once again criticized bitcoin.
Contrary to the opinion of crypto-enthusiasts, positioning a leading cryptocurrency as a speculative investment tool with high growth potential, the General Manager of an international organization interested in the traditional mechanisms of the financial sector, challenges the value attributed to digital assets. From the point of view of Carstens, it is only about “software algorithms” that do not carry in yourself any good.
The economist underlines the importance of reforms in the framework of the existing payment systems by Central banks. These reforms, he said, have much more economic value and deserve more attention than digital assets like bitcoin.
“The use of these “currencies” is misleading. These cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, Ether and Tether, not performing basic functions of money,” said Carstens.
He explained his position with the high volatility characteristic of their cost (which, ironically, once again declined sharply in recent weeks):
“No cryptocurrency is not a real unit of account or payment instrument, and we have seen this year that they are a bad store of value. Buyers of cryptocurrencies are invested in no more than a software algorithm”.
Wanting to emphasize the advantages of using modern tools of retail payments, the economist appealed to the statistics of the industry payments using credit cards:
“According to the Committee on payments and market infrastructure at the global scale, the total volume of payments via Bank cards reached in 2016, 25% of GDP, compared to 13% in 2000. Already given the proliferation of apps for mobile phones increase the number of cashless payments”.
Carstens, from 2010 to 2017 were used by the Bank of Mexico, stressed the importance of projects Central banks, aimed at modernizing the existing payment infrastructure, which he believes is more important than innovation in the nascent industry of the blockchain.
“While this work is not so attracting attention as crypto and crypto-CE, development of new equipment, software and processes to ensure the safety of your money, strengthen financial stability and protect the economy are of great importance”, — said the economist.
In a recent interview with the newspaper Basler Zeitung, the head of “Central Bank of Central banks”, previously called bitcoin “a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and environmental disaster,” even appealed to young people interested in cryptocurrencies, calling: “Stop trying to create money!”
Agustin Carstens advised to direct this energy on the development of technological advances that can make the world a better place, instead of waste it on currency, “not performing any tasks of real money”.
Note that a recent study conducted by members of the BIS have allowed them to conclude that the blockchain can lead to failures in the work of the world wide web, and digital currency issued by Central banks is likely to cause the outflow of capital from commercial banks.
Special attention is given to the report of the Bank that represents the arguments in favor of the version on the centralization of the asset is Ripple XRP, one of the sensational topics of Cryptoprotected.
