IMF Director Weighs In On Bitcoin & Central Bank Cryptos

IMF Director Weighs In On Bitcoin & Central Bank Cryptos

Following on from an open stance to the always changing application that is blockchain technology, the Managing Director at International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde has spoken on the discussion surrounding the idea of central bank cryptocurrencies. She said that they should be considered and urged further to talk about the potential roles of central banks.

On the 14th November, Lagarde spoke at a panel during the Fintech Festival in Singapore in which she opened up to the audience regarding the disruptive nature of technological change and said, “the key is to harness the benefits while managing the risks”.

During her speech at the Fintech Festival, the managing director mentioned three areas for her address which included the roles of central banks in the new financial space, the constantly evolving nature of money and Fintech development and a look at the downsides and steps towards mitigation.

Mentioning the bigger names in the space such as Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin, Lagarde believes that cryptocurrencies are looking to find a solid position in the world we live in today and are constantly reinventing themselves as they hope to search for more legitimate grounds through stable values including cheaper a quicker transactions transaction settlements.

As said by Lagarde, the e-money providers consider themselves to be less risky than banks due to the fact that they don’t lend money and that digital currencies are looking to put more trust in technology. Nevertheless, she still remains sceptical and retains the belief that “proper regulations of these entities will remain a pillar of trust”.

As reported by Bitcoin News, an article published earlier in the month by Lagarde made ground for the case for regulations that didn’t silence innovations and offered a good point for both in favour of cryptocurrencies and against them.

Following the reveal of the latest IMF paper called ‘Casting Light on Central Bank Digital Currencies’ which looks into the good and bad of the concept, Lagarde said that “we should consider the possibility to issue digital currency. There may be a role for the state to supply money to the digital economy.”

In other crypto news over the past day, the markets are in something of a slump… well, more of a crash in reality. Bitcoin is down 12 percent and has even gone below the $5,500 level.

What are your thoughts? Let us know what you think down below in the comments!

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