Australia and New Zealand do not plan to issue national cryptocurrencies

A new speech made by Tony Richards, Head of Payments Policy Department of the Reserve Bank of Australia, has been published on its official website. In the speech, some basic terms of the cryptocurrency world and the recent price dynamics of Bitcoin in comparison to the Australian dollar are described quite correctly, as well as the market boom of the late 2017. Apart from this, the question whether or not the state should issue such a financial tool is explored.

Tony Richards reaches the following conclusions. Cryptocurrencies are very risky, although ‘fascinating’, both from ‘a payments and a broader economic perspective’. The new form of electronic money is currently not needed, although there is a mentioning of an ongoing process of Australian households’ steps towards the non-cash payment forms.

More or less the same position has been voiced by the New Zealand Reserve Bank Deputy Governor, Geoff Bascand. He believes that it was too early to determine the need for state coin issue, while the country’s financial system is at stake. It is the primary goal of the Reserve Bank to keep it stable, Bascand said.

The U.S. Federal Reserve representatives and Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, have already voiced their views on the problem: the high-ranking Fed executives and the current leader of this organization think that there was no sold reason to issue a national cryptocoin. The Russian President’s opinion is that the very phenomenon of cryptocurrency was above any state borders.

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