Citigroup’s CEO Michael Corbat predicts Governments-sponsored digital currencies. According to him, Bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) presents a real enough threat to the financial system and governments will have no choice but to issue versions of their own.
“I don’t think governments are going to take lightly other people coming in and potentially disrupting their abilities around data, around tax collection, around money laundering, around know-your-customer,” Michael Corbat said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“It’s likely that we’re going to see governments introduce, not cryptocurrencies - I think cryptocurrency is a bad moniker for that - but a digital currency,” he added.
Corbat made clear that he’s still very positive on the underlying technology. His bank is experimenting internally with its own currency, dubbed Citicoin, which can reduce friction in international foreign-exchange transactions. It’s also partnered with Nasdaq Inc. to use blockchain to help trade private shares.
“You won’t hear us be dismissive in terms of the nascent technology because it’s real and there is something there,” he said.