European Central Bank Exec: Euro Superior to Alternative Methods of Payment Like Bitcoin

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Speaking at the 2014 Bargelsymposium (cash conference) in an address to the Deutsche Bundesbank, European Central Bank executive board member by the name of Yves Mersch stated that the Euro would remain a strong and globally-accepted method of payment.

This comes as bitcoin continues to gain attention, with more and more businesses turing to it as a solution to avoid exorbitant fees from card processors, among other things.

[blockquote style=”2″]Euro banknotes and coins are a method of payment of stable value, acceptance of which is compulsory, and thus they are superior to alternative methods of payment.[/blockquote]

Now, these so-called alternative methods of payment are considered to be “virtual money and regional currencies” with bitcoin being considered a “regional currency of the Internet”.

The reason, he says, is because “there are probably a maximum of two million Bitcoin users, and only a few thousand businesses and service providers which accept Bitcoin.”

Mersch managed to make even more of a controversial statement while he was at it:

[blockquote style=”2″]Although interested parties can very easily download the application for Bitcoin, they neither understand how this payment system works exactly, nor the risks they run when using it.[/blockquote]

Therefore, in the mind of Mr. Mersch, bitcoin can “compete neither with the banking sector’s payment systems nor with euro banknotes.”

It’s truly exactly what anyone in the community would expect a central banker to stay. But could we reach a day when bitcoin comes into direct competition with the euro?

Sound off. What do you think?

[textmarker color=”C24000″]Source[/textmarker] Bitcoin Foundation Canada [textmarker color=”C24000″]Image[/textmarker] Eric Chan