The 20/20 Conference is one that sees over 300 experts from insurance companies, banks, large companies as well as other financial service centres come together to discuss the economy. This year's conference saw the heads of various central bank heads of different departments in attendance. At the conference, one issue was discussed and most departmental head of central banks gave their opinion. The discussion was if cryptocurrencies in the future would become alternatives to fiat currencies. For a start, the head of the bank of England stated that he is not worried about the growth of cryptocurrencies, he went further to state that the trust the people have in them would be one reason why they would stick with fiat currencies. Other departmental heads of different central banks also agreed with the point and the head of the Lithuania central bank revealed that if they (central banks) keep offering the people the services they offer now without any restrictions or issues, then he sees no reason why anyone would choose cryptos over fiat.
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In this conference, a poll was conducted and that poll asked these experts if they envisage a future where cryptos would be adopted and used for general everyday payment purposes. The result of the poll indicated that only 13% of those in attendance could imagine a future where cryptos would be used to pay for regular and common products like a cup of coffee by 2020. The poll further revealed that only about 23% of those in attendance could imagine a future where cryptos would become an alternative to fiat and would be used to purchase common items like a cup of coffee in Germany. For more industrialized countries like the United States and Japan, 35% of those in attendance were optimistic about the future where cryptos would become a means of payment for products. The poll also went further to reveal that only about 6% of people thought that by 2020 cryptos would be used to purchase cars in Germany. While for the US, 15% thought it would be viable and 13% thought it would be viable in Japan.
A scientist at the conference Dr. Dominik Rehse explained that the result of this poll conducted goes a long way to show that conventional payment methods (fiat currencies) satisfy the needs of the general market participants. He went further to state that the poll shows categorically that these cryptocurrencies by the end of the year 2020 will still prove to be complex for the average person to understand.
It is no longer news that cryptocurrencies in the last couple of years have become one of the most talked about investment options in the world but when it comes to their adoption as a means of payment for products it remains a marginal phenomenon. Western Union's CEO while speaking at a conference stated that customers in general still prefer fiat to cryptocurrencies, because of this, he further noted that Western Union is not planning on offering its users a crypto transfer option in the coming years.