Could bitcoin be the invention that ultimately replaces cash today as we know it?
Officials at the Bank of Canada don’t think so.
In a testimony held before the country’s Senate Banking Committee, one of the bank’s top officials said that as of this juncture it’s simply too early to say whether or not digital currencies like bitcoin will replace fiat.
“These are early days … and so far digital currencies have not made it to what we call money,” said Stephen Poloz, who serves as governor at the central bank.
“We’ve got a ways to go before we need to be thinking about policy implications.”
According to Poloz, officials at the bank are closely monitoring developments in the digital currency space.
Meanwhile, Tiff Macklem, who serves below Poloz, added that if bitcoin were to continue to gain traction, it could potentially disturb the central bank’s financial stability and it’s job to regulate the country’s money supply.
“But that seems pretty far off,” he was quoted as saying.
He acknowledges that the use of bitcoin can be beneficial:
“There are certain applications of some sort of global currencies which could be quite helpful, for instance payments of remittances, which can be quite expensive.”
Of course, we wouldn’t exactly expect the central bank to say any other than what they have, but it’s interesting to get their view nonetheless.
Also interesting is that digital currency has become too big to ignore, as evidenced by the fact officials at the bank are tasked with monitoring the crypto-space (and that they’re seemingly dismissing it, in the first place).
Of course, whether or not bitcoin will overtake traditional currency is yet to be seen — but it can’t be denied that it’s here to stay.
[textmarker color=”C24000″]Source[/textmarker] Global News [textmarker color=”C24000″]Image[/textmarker] D. Neuman