With the increasing popularity of digital currencies, banks are adopting strategies that would keep them at the center stage of the cryptocurrency economy.
Banks are positioning to play a more active role in cryptocurrencies as the adoption increases. This is according to a report by Barron Magazine. Fiat is still needed to purchase bitcoins and the banks are hoping to be the main bridge that links people to the crypto space.
At the moment, cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bitfinex and Coinbase are the main drivers of the cryptocurrency economy which at the moment has a capitalization of $3 trillion.
More financial institutions are realizing that Bitcoin has come to stay and that it would play an important role in the future. This informs the move by the banks to adjust their policies to accommodate the asset bearing in mind that they have to do this to remain relevant.
Hiring Crypto Talents
Recently, banks such as Bank of America and JP Morgan have started hiring cryptocurrency-skilled talent as they strive to take more active part in the budding industry.
Banks who want to remain in business are already offering bitcoin-related services in one form or the other. However, cryptocurrency pundits are of the opinion that too much involvement of big players in bitcoin services would lead to unwanted centralization of the asset which was designed as a peer-to-peer form of payment.
They believe that BTC is meant to be on its own and not use a central service such as banks for issuance. This is especially so since Bitcoin was invented as an alternative to and not to complement banks.
FidLaf, a Twitter user expressed the stance and reaction of the banks since cryptocurrencies came into public consciousness:
“They tricked the Maximalist to think that they were poking the bankers eyes with Bitcoin. To the contrary, they love Blockchain and Bitcoin. It is the perfect killer app to track people’s economy and enact monetary laws. Check Mate.”
Bitcoin To Be Regulated
Regulators in some countries such as the United States, Canada, Singapore and Australia are working on guidelines that would bring cryptocurrencies under their regulatory purview.
Active involvement of banks in crypto would make the need for regulation even more dire since banks play active roles in the economic activities of various countries.
The advantage of such regulatory oversights on digital currencies is that they would help in the prevention of frauds and criminal activities. However, the downside is that it would impede the innovation and growth of the industry.
