One of the three major questions that the President of the European Central Bank will be answering via a series of videos on Feb. 12, 2018 is about cryptocurrencies and Blockchain.
Mario Draghi will respond to the culled questions, whether Bitcoin offers a viable alternative to traditional currencies as well as comment on the ECB's view on its technology, provided they are submitted by Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. Europeans aged between 16 and 35 can additionally ask questions around three main topics: possibility of an incipient ecumenical economic crisis, cryptocurrencies and Blockchain, Europe’s economic recuperation and youth unemployment
The session is a component of the ECB’s third Youth Dialogue which customarily constitutes a series of verbalizes held by the Bank’s policymakers with students and puerile people from different countries and backgrounds.
As a prelude to the session, the ECB has launched a Twitter opinion poll to ask if Bitcoin could offer a viable alternative to traditional currencies. The poll by Europe’s top bank has received more than 15,500 replications in about 24 hours.
Central banks and crypto
While the role of central banks in the digital currency world has always been a subject of debate, the view that they subsist to avail ascertain stability for economies still stands.
Bitcoin’s volatility has earned reproval of being a conveyance for perpetrating fraud from the relishes of Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of the US investment bank Goldman Sachs. Luxembourg's Finance Minister, Pierre Gramegna additionally suggested that the European Cumulation could anon introduce incipient cryptocurrency regulations.
Adoption trend
What is pellucid is that 2017 was a crucial year for Bitcoin. Top digital currency soared in popularity ecumenically as its value rose sharply, while crypto gained mainstream media’s attention.
Though there is no evidence, such cognizance incremented its adoption in Europe, available statistical data about 2017 shows that its utilize as an every-day payment method in main European economies is still minimal.
Crypto Q&A at the Youth Dialogue
Nevertheless, it is conspicuous that incipient information has been dropped into the public domain for many people to sort on their own. It should make the ECB’s Q&A session to be an intriguing watch even if nothing incipient is expected.
The session is coming in the wake of the recent suspension of Bitcoin-backed Visa debit cards in Europe and proposed exordium of EU-wide regulation on such currencies. It’s withal worth cerebrating what the outcome could mean for the affected payment processors who are reportedly in verbalizes with alternate card issuers in Europe and for those seeking to establish a crypto/fiat bank that would be independent of traditional banks.