The European Central Bank (ECB) will put itself at risk if it does not take action regarding adopting cryptoassets as they’re set to wait for a Digital Euro according to an executive at high profile crypto firm ConsenSys.
Monica Singer, a lead ConsenSys member based in South Africa, joined the European Blockchain Convention to discuss regarding the role of the private sector in shaping global central bank digital currencies or CBDCs. She spoke of CBDC-fuelled opportunities and benefits during Mondays panel featuring BNP Paribas CIB digital transformation leader Dean Demellweek and Philipp Sandner, a professor at the frankfurt School Blockchain Centre.
Singer who holds over 18 years of experience as the CEO of South Africa’s central securities depository, Strate, believes that the existing financial system has intrinsic faults and is far from perfect.
According to the ConsenSys executive, the current financial system is deeply flawed due to many intermediaries and opportunities such as CBDCs, which can be seen as a chance for central banks to amend their mistakes. Singer noted, CBDCs can help facilitate the effort to provide banking services for the unbanked as well as unlock cost efficient ways to get access to many for the private sector and end-customers.
If global banks miss the chance to capitalise on the transition, she believes that alternatives from private tech giants such as Facebook would render fiat currencies obsolete:
“If the central bank in Europe is going to wait until 2028, by then there won’t be a central bank.” The ECB had released plans on whether to pilot a digital euro by mid to late 2021. According to ECB President Christine Lagarde, the adoption of a European CBDC would take at least four years. Meanwhile, some countries, such as China, have been actively trialling a CBDC since April 2020.
