Reports out yesterday state how the CEO of Mastercard, Ajay Banga has spoken out against cryptocurrencies, referring to them as junk.
The statement, according to CCN, came from a talk in New York during which Banga downplayed the ability for cryptocurrency to be used as a medium of exchange. Although as we all very well know, cryptocurrencies have already proven that they are useful media for exchange and of course, are accepted in various outlets worldwide already.
According to CCN, Banga commented:
“I think cryptocurrency is junk….The idea of an anonymized currency produced by people who have to mine it, the value of which can fluctuate wildly – that to me is not the way that any medium of exchange deserves to be considered a medium of exchange.”
Moreover:
“Banga rehashed the criticisms that are constantly being thrown at cryptocurrencies including the prevalent use of digital assets to conduct transactions on the dark web. The Mastercard chief executive also brought up the case of the 12 Russian military intelligence officers who were recently indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice over their efforts to meddle in the country’s elections, with Banga citing the use of bitcoin by the Russians.”
See more for yourself, here.
It’s irritating that such a prolific figure finds it acceptable to talk in this manner in order to downplay cryptocurrencies. It’s obvious why he feels this way as cryptocurrency offers a direct challenge to his company and his business model.
Instead of challenging them though, why not adopt them, jump on board and reap the benefits?
It’s also interesting that Mastercard are at the fore of blockchain research at the moment and are putting an awful lot of effort into ensuring that Mastercard can keep up pace with the growth within blockchain technology. Are they going to develop a blockchain based system that has space for cryptocurrency? In many companies, this is totally fine, but for a company that issues credit and bank cards, surely a cryptocurrency, or some cryptocurrencies, will be beneficial here?
There’s something about Banga’s speech that doesn’t seem very genuine. By referring to crypto as junk, he is totally disregarding a range of evidence that is easily accessible online. It’s not hard to see reports of actual cryptocurrencies being used as store value currencies.
Maybe Banga is scared of what the future might hold for Mastercard, when cryptocurrencies do eventually hit the mainstream? Or, perhaps something more interesting is going on here.![images.jpg]