The Director General of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Agustín Carstens, told Bloomberg in an interview that the war between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies has been won by the former. As he says “technology does not create trusted money.” The community, however, says otherwise.
BIS and its stance on cryptocurrencies
It has not been known for a long time that the Bank for International Settlements, stands in opposition to the cryptocurrency sector. It has often cited concerns about the volatility of virtual coins, scalability, as well as energy consumption. Nonetheless, the Bank has kept a close eye on stablecoins, and is spearheading the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), in several independent jurisdictions. However, this does not change the fact that the BIS director believes that “technology does not create trusted money.”
The above comment was made during the most recent interview with the Bloomberg news agency. During it, Carstens went a step further and added that fiat currencies have won the war against cryptocurrencies. In doing so, he emphasized the need to regulate the cryptocurrency market, as well as to implement support on the issue of risk management.
The words of the interview were met with a wave of criticism, which was most widely seen among members of the Bitcoin community.
Bitcoin defenders react
One of the people who decided to be the first to respond to these words was Paxful CEO Ray Youssef. In his words:
“It’s easy to get caught up in these battles, but it’s all a distraction. Meanwhile, we need to focus on the battles in the global south and fight for every inch and every eyeball. What is happening now in Nigeria is crucial for all of us.”
A well-known Bitcoin supporter, Lady Anarki, also came to the fore. She took an even firmer stance in her assessment, saying:
“By fiat, it is the despicable elite oligarchs who create a rigged gaming system to enrich themselves while making everyone else poorer. Bitcoin is a technology designed with incentives and sound economic principles that enriches everyone who brings value to the world.”
This is not the end of the war, but merely the beginning
According to Carstens, Bitcoin has completely lost the war and has even been declared a dead product. This is supposedly confirmed by the ongoing bear market. According to the BIS, almost all holders of cryptocurrencies, keeping them in their wallets, have suffered losses.
Nevertheless, Bitcoin supporter Willem Middelkoop stressed that the war between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies is far from over, and what is currently taking place is only the beginning.