VISA CFO is Not a Big Fan of Cryptocurrencies ๐จ This article is 7 years old...
VISA CFO is Not a Big Fan of Cryptocurrencies
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Updated: Aug. 24, 2018 at 9:55 am UTC
Photo by Fabian Grohs on Unsplash
While the list of financial institutions adopting crypto technology in some form or the other continues to grow larger by the day, ย Visaโs Vasant Prabhu seems to not be buying any of it.
Prabhu who serves as the Chief Finance Officer for Visa has been the latest corporate voice to warn investors about the dangers of cryptocurrencies, and how they are just a bubble waiting to burst.
In a recent interview, Prabhu claimed that Bitcoin and other similar assets are currently in an economic bubble that is being fed by a large number of โunsophisticated investors.โ In what can only be perceived as a somewhat snide remark, he said that โ Even guys like the limo driver to the airport are investing in this.โ
He then went a step further and added:
โThis is the ultimate thing that you hear about when you have a bubble, when even the guy shining your shoes tells you what stock to buy.โ
What does Visa have to lose in all of this?
Visa is currently one of the largest international payment facilitators on the planet today.
As things currently stand, they dictate the terms for a majority of monetary transactions taking place all across the globe. Even the banking infrastructures used by most countries favor their business model which by all means lies in support of the business elites.
With the introduction of cryptocurrencies, the status quo now seems to be shifting since virtual assets bring in an element of transparency that has never been seen before. Thus, it comes as no surprise that an executive for one of the world’s largest payment providers has gone on the offensive against cryptocurrencies.
While local government authorities continue to clamp down and issue warnings against alt-assets, it is remarkable to see the way in which the crypto market has sustained itself despite all the negative media coverage and obvious institutional bias.
What can we expect in the coming future?
Prabhu is not the first big name to step on the anti-crypto bandwagon. People like as Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, and UBS’ Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, have all previously bashed cryptocurrencies, calling them poor investment choices.
But if anything is clear by now, it is that many of todayโs top financial executives have been forced to accept the reality of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain.
Since these disruptive technologies have already started to impact the global economic ecosystem as a whole, it will be interesting to see how long the naysayers continue to promote the narrative which says that โdigital currencies primarily help the corrupt fund their money laundering and arms trade activities.โ
Posted In: Adoption
