Ex-Chief executive officer of Citigroup Vikram Pandit has a lot of faith in crypto. During the Singapore Fintech Festival, he painted a picture of cryptos taking shape. Vikram said that in three years, all significant banks would examine trading crypto. Or offer crypto-related services. Moreover, he believes that all primary banks will embrace digital currency.
In Dec 2007, Vikram assumed the position of CEO of Citigroup. This was the time America had a financial disaster. Yet, the former banker led the US bank. Before he joined Citigroup, the dynamic manager worked at Morgan Stanley from 1983. He became the President and a departmental chief operating officer.
He led the institutional securities plus stake banking market. In 2016, Vikram Pandit, together with a partner, started their investment company Orogen. To date, he is serving Orogen as the chairperson and the CEO.
Financial institutions will scramble for crypto space
Vikram explained his feelings during the Fintech conference. He said all significant banks would soon embark on crypto trading. Otherwise, most of them will start providing crypto services soon. He feels the institutions will feel left out and will quickly scramble for a crypto space.
Several institutions are already embracing crypto. This includes some notable banks like Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank. Besides, US Bank, ACB, and Singapore’s DBS have also embraced cryptocurrency.
Major investments systems are also in the space already. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley are advancing crypto ventures to customers. Besides, payments kingpins, MasterCard, Visa, and Paypal are all running crypto projects.
CBDCs is gaining momentum in 87 countries
About central bank digital currency (CBDC), Vikram feels that moving money globally by modernizing a paper-based banking system is tricky. He further stated that the process leaves a lot of deadweight expenditure.
He sees a CBDC that is available to everyone and all retail participants worldwide. He went further to implore central banks to adopt CBDCs. He said that CBDC has several benefits, and he believes central banks know. Thus, urged them to move and embrace them.
A lot is happening as the rush for digital assets is taking shape. Most banks in the global space are mulling over starting their CBDCs. The statistics from Atlantic Council CBDC tracker puts 87 countries exploring CBDC. Among these figures, seven have already launched digital currency.
Besides, 17 are under the piloting phase. Yet, 15 are going through development. A massive 39 are undergoing research.
There is a reason why most countries are heeding the call to develop their CBDC. For starters, many people are investing in cryptocurrencies. So, countries are devising ways to counter cryptos with a common digital currency.
Besides, there is a black market economy in existence. The market has caused the exchequer billions of dollars. This has affected both developing and developed countries. CBDCs give authorities the ability to trace payments and income and tax them.