A couple of weeks ago, Banking Technology published this piece I wrote about why I think bitcoin is currently very much overhyped.
It seems every banker, financial technologist, commentator and their friends all have varying opinions on the importance of bitcoin and its blockchain. There are an insane number of conferences dedicated to this topic – they’re happening right now in a city near you, I guarantee it!
I believe banks, for example, need to spend their time creating innovative, more efficient and problem-solving payment solutions to help them to, quite frankly, stay relevant. Crypto ledgers do not solve but introduce new problems to the payment infrastructure we have in place. Banks have enough issues to solve before they start introducing new ones.
I concede that the blockchain system may prove valuable when used for big government data projects and storage but that such a system becomes political given it would undoubtedly put many thousands out of work. The Think Tank, Reform, suggested just this week that the UK government could use the technology for identity assurance services.
I list out some of the main causes for concern and blockers of crypto-system becoming mainstream in today’s financial services and payments world, within the Banking Technology article. These include the fact that transaction processing time would increase significantly – especially in the early days – as well as introduce a whole layer of security and regulatory concerns.
The only way I see crypto ledger technology being useful and possible would be if the established and accepted currencies of our world were digitised but that, of course, won’t happen for a long time. I believe we need to focus on what positively pushes our world and humanity further. To read the full article, click here.
