The Singaporean-based financial services giant DBS applauded bitcoin and cryptocurrency and said the industry was establishing a brave new frontier.
According to an in-depth report titled “Digital Currencies: Public and Private, Present and Future”, the banking giant recognizes the potential impact of bitcoin and crypto-assets. DBS said 2020 is shaping up to be a landmark year in the history of digital finance, with rapid advances in connectivity, mobility, and data storage combining with the “pandemic-led acceleration” in adoption.
DBS highlighted the rising interest in crypto-assets as a hedge against the global money-printing tactics by central banks in response to COVID-19.
The report reads,
Ever since central banks around the world embarked on unprecedented expansion of their balance sheets to combat the Covid-19 pandemic-related economic headwinds, interest in cryptocurrencies, along with gold, has resurged.
A survey by the report also found that more than 80 percent of central banks polled were exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which DBS attributed to growing intrigue in financial technology.
The report argued that crytpo-assets are here for the long-term with a global trend towards reducing cash usage in favor of more sophisticated methods.
Having been around for more than a decade, private digital currencies or cryptos have moved from the domain of marginal individual investors to being offered in regulated exchanges and traded by sophisticated institutional and retail investors.
While DBS called the demise of cash “nowhere in the horizon,” it made a strong argument for the appeal of crypto due to its convenience and security.
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