Cryptocurrency...heard of it?
I take it you have if you are reading this article on Steemit, and many nations have heard of cryptocurrency and the potential that it has. Recently, countries and companies have been investing in and researching cryptocurrencies to see how the currencies can benefit them.
One high ranking official that holds at least one type of cryptocurrency would be the newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron. Macron stated in a Le Figaro article that there would be, "an adaptation of the financial regulation to allow experimentation of blockchains dedicated to the market of Bonds.” Additionally, “if the experimentation is conclusive, the government could extend it to unlisted securities in order to promote the emergence of a SME exchange.” But he is not the only one interested in the expansion of the economy with cryptocurrencies.
Founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, Vitalik Buterin has stated that he met "with people in governments including US, Canada, UK, EU, Switzerland, Russia, Singapore, China and Taiwan. I fully intend to refuse any requests to facilitate dictating, killing or oppressing people." With these big countries meeting with him, it shows that the interest in diversifying economies with cryptocurrency is definitely present. It would seem that the race to implement a cryptocurrency first has begun. And it seems that Russian president Putin wants to lead the race. Putin said that "the digital economy isn’t a separate industry, it’s essentially the foundation for creating brand new business models." Putin is looking for ways to diversify the Russian economy as well, and this could be one way to move past natural resources.
Buterin caught the attention of Putin at a St. Petersburg economic forum and the had a brief meeting. There is much speculation what was said between the two, but one could only assume they spoke about solidifying ties. It is known that Buterin was born in Russian and moved when his parents left to Canada when he was six. Buterin reportedly spoke fluent Russian when speaking with the Russian president, so it would appear that their is nothing that will be lost in translation between the two in negotiations. And who else would Putin want to invest in besides a fellow Russian.
Russia’s central bank has already rolled out an Ethereum-based blockchain that serves as a pilot project to verify customer data with lenders including Sberbank PJSC and process payments, Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova said at the St. Petersburg event. The cryptocurrency technology was said to even have the potential to become the framework of a national digital currency in the future. Regulators of all countries agree that it’s time to develop national cryptocurrencies.
One lofty expectation of the digital currency made by Vlad Martynov, an adviser for The Ethereum Foundation said that, "blockchain may have the same effect on businesses that the emergence on the internet once had -- it would change business models, and eliminate intermediaries such as escrow agents and clerks.” He also stated that, “If Russia implements it first, it will gain similar advantages to those the Western countries did at the start of the internet age.”
Questions:
Do you think that countries will actually adopt a national digital currency? What country do you think will lead the race to a national digital currency?
Would the addition of cryptocurrency help diversify and benefit the Russian economy?
What negative effects could come from having a national digital currency?
Are their dangers of switching from a banking system and cutting big world powers out of your economic systems?