Swiss Central Bank Snubs National Cryptocurrency Idea Again

Cryptovest

Published Jun 23, 2018 04:04AM ET

Updated Jun 23, 2018 04:21AM ET

Swiss Central Bank Snubs National Cryptocurrency Idea Again

At the Crypto Valley Conference that took place in Zug, Switzerland on Thursday, Schweizerische Nationalbank board director Thomas Moser had just one thing to say: It’s really not the time at all to talk about issuing a national cryptocurrency for the country.

During the “Future of Token Economy” panel, he said that blockchain is comparable to the “useless innovation” of compact discs. To be fair, every immature technology goes through a phase like this. Cassette tapes were all the rage until CDs came along, and then MP3 players took their place, and so on, and so forth.

Eventually, the smartphone revolution took the market by surprise and replaced a slew of devices that we used to lug around in our vacations. Moser’s words seem to show that he believes that blockchain technology can still go a lot further and launching a national cryptocurrency on a technology that’s still practically “in beta” wouldn’t be feasible.

He also suggested that Bitcoin is going to lose its crown on the world stage sooner or later.

“Something similar has to happen with Bitcoin. People will only switch to something new if it works better or is cheaper,” he said.

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Indeed, there are hundreds of coins vying for that top spot that Bitcoin currently occupies, eventually making the cryptocurrency a distant memory for those who were involved in this market in the 2010s when it began gaining traction.

This is the second time that the national cryptocurrency idea was shot down by the Swiss central bank. A little over two months ago, another board member of the Schweizerische Nationalbank said that implementing such a massive project is a risky endeavor since it would force the central bank to take on a commercial role.

Also speaking at the panel was the country’s economics minister, Johann Schneider-Ammann. In total contrast to Moser’s tone, he said that he’s looking forward to Switzerland to be known as a “crypto nation.”

Still, he warned people of both the dangers of adapting too slowly to the market and dipping into whatever gets enough hype.


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