Chairman of the Natwest banking group admires their "instinct" to ban crypto

Sir Howard Davies the Chairman of the Natwest banking group has commented on China’s recent crypto ban, stating he admired their ‘instinct’ to ban crypto. 

The Chairman of one of the biggest UK banking groups, Natwest, Sir Howard Davies revealed that, while he didn’t agree with everything China has ruled upon, he admired their instinct to ban crypto.

"It’s gambling as far as I can see, with a sort of libertarian veneer on top of it. You should put a big sign on the door saying, Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" 

The former deputy governor of the Bank of England, and former chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), noted that he was hostile towards crypto, and viewed it as one of the bank's biggest worries.

In a recent interview with Andrew Hilton, Director of The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, Davies responded to the question: Do you worry what was a fad is now becoming an obsession?

“Yes, this is probably in our bank at the moment one of our biggest worries. If you link it to essentially, fraud and financial crime, where we know the incidence of fraud in the crypto sector, broadly defined, is much greater. We believe there are more individuals in the UK with investments in crypto assets than have investments in the equity market. That’s quite a worrying thing.”

According to the FCA, over 2.3million people in the UK owned crypto assets as of June this year, up from 1.9 million from the previous year.

While the Bank Of England has not yet made an official announcement regarding the release of a CBDC,  Davies claimed last month that Britain will be piloting its own CBDC based on the pound to reduce money transfer costs within the next five years. However, BOE Governor Andrew Bailey also spoke at the same event, and was more cautious in his statement, noting that the central bank was still considering the pros and cons of a CBDC. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.