Money20/20 Conference which was held last week has been referred to a meeting or conference of central bank executives as well as financial technology companies to discuss technologies and money. The role of this platform is to ensure that these executives and financial technology companies are able to co-operate. In this conference, a discussion titled; "Cryptocurrencies the bank question" was discussed. In this part of the conference, various executives and board members of central banks of over 5 countries chipped in a little on what they think about these digital tokens. Some of these executives went further to state that cryptocurrencies should not be seen as a threat to fiat or physical currencies. They went further to state that if the central banks of these countries do not relent in their capabilities to provide the people with physical currencies, then there would be no need for them to worry about these digital tokens.
This discussion was set up because, for a long time, these financial institutions have been faced with the emergence of these cryptocurrencies. Most of the financial institutions in the last couple of months have become fierce opposers of these digital tokens. An example of these financial institutions is the bank of England. For a long period of time this bank has been thorny about its stance on the operations of cryptocurrencies, but recently, this has changed as a new task force has been established to ensure that they have an in-depth knowledge and study of these digital tokens. Martin Etheridge who happens to be the head of the division of the bank of England showed confidence in fiat or physical currencies when he said that he does not see the prospect of these digital tokens replacing physical currencies. He went further to state that although he does not know the future, that the odds are stacked behind fiat currencies. He further describes the question as relevant but asked if the people trust the government and the authorities to provide them with the physical or fiat currencies. He stated that if they fail in any way to provide the people with efficient results, then there would be no need to look for alternatives in these digital tokens. He further stated that the present system has not been destroyed anyway so there would be no need to look for an alternative anywhere else.
One of the governing body members of the bank of Lithuania Marius Jurgilis supported Etheridge by stating that if the products these financial institutions offer is good, then there would be no need for people to talk about cryptocurrencies. He further stated that if the people in general starts questioning the type of service they offer, then that is the only reason they would have to turn to these cryptocurrencies as alternatives.
These are a few of the comments made by executives of various banks across countries about how they view these cryptocurrencies. They have clearly stated that they do not see them as a threat.