finbold.com
As cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) continue to grow and gain popularity as an alternative to fiat money and banking services, fears have arisen that they might endanger the traditional financial systems around the world.
However, some experts are trying to dispel those fears, including the Credit Suisse board member and fintech expert Blythe Masters, who discussed this issue at the corporation’s conference in Hong Kong, Finews Asia reported on March 24.
“I remain, somewhat to this day, skeptical of many of the arguments put forward as to why Bitcoin will ultimately prevail in pushing out fiat currencies and debasing the business case for banking,” she said.
The arguments to which she was referring are the major promises of cryptocurrencies, including replacing fiat money and acting as a hedge against the ever-growing inflation.
In her words, the effectiveness of digital assets in this sense “remains yet to be seen,” and the infinite available crypto “raises a fundamental question mark about the long-term inflationary protection provided by cryptocurrencies.”
Masters was speaking at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference 2022 taking place between March 21 and 24. The conference brings together industry experts, business leaders, Nobel laureates, and inspirational figures to discuss investment trends that will shape the future.
Could some banking services disappear?
The fears that cryptocurrencies endanger traditional banks stem from the views of some of the major decentralized finance (DeFi) industry figures who believe that digital assets will render ‘irrelevant’ certain bank services.
One of them is the Blockchain Centre CEO Tadas Maurukas, who believes one of the banking services that could disappear is savings accounts.
Instead, he argues, some users might prefer cryptocurrency staking due to the potentially more favorable interest rates involved.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin had successfully regained the $43,000 mark and traded at $43,043, recording a 7.41% increase from seven days ago, when its price was $40,730.
The popular DeFi asset also measured a 2.26% increase over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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