In a voice that is all too familiar for Bitcoiners, another major lending institution has warned against everyday investors putting their money into Bitcoin. This time it is Deutsche Bank and their Chief Strategist Ulrich Stephan.
The tirade against Bitcoin is starting to wane as some of the more established Wall Street names warm to the digital coins. However, the banking sector is still approaching it mostly with extreme caution to disdain.
Delving deeper into the reasons behind this, it is understandable why a hegemony like the banking sector would feel challenged by a disruptive money system that could render them obsolete. But the spread of warnings and fear is starting to wear thin.
Usual rhetoric
The banking sector seems to be stuck on rhetoric that itself is aging and becoming obsolete. The usual excuses, such as volatility and regulation are the sticking points that are keeping banks back - so they claim.
“I would simply not recommend this to the everyday investor,” Stephan said.
In Germany, according to the strategist, the citizens are generating hype around Bitcoin, yet they are not investing as heavily as they hype suggests. Even the interest in stocks is low. Perhaps, it has a lot to do with the general attitude of such banks, and even the financial regulators.
As time marches on, even these arguments of hyper-volatility and lawlessness in the so-called unregulated space don’t make as much sense. Volatility is steadying relatively, and there are much more regulations in place.
Back the Blockchain
There is more similar rhetoric, especially in the banking sector, when it comes to Blockchain over Bitcoin. Again, seeing through the fog, this makes sense for the banks as the Blockchain can offer solutions - and already is with Ripple, who has partnered with Santander and AMEX.
“At this point, I‘m very cautious about Bitcoin as an entity. I‘m much more optimistic about the underlying technology,” UBS Chairman Axel Weber added.
Blockchain without Bitcoin, as counterintuitive as that sounds, offer banks a lot without removing any of their monopoly over money and currency.
But in saying this, there are a few banks who are being forward thinking, embracing cryptocurrencies as well as the Blockchain.
State digital currencies
There are some, especially in the central banks of certain countries, that are going a step further, and are keen on minting their own digital currencies in order to combat some problems.
Sweden’s central bank is one organization which is investigating the potential for digital currencies.
“An e-krona would have the potential to counteract some of the problems that could arise on the payment market in the future when the use of cash is rapidly declining,” the Riksbank said in a report in September.