The governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, has said that even though digital coins can be useful, they should not be issued by private companies, but by central banks, Reuters has reported.
According to the news outlet, Galhau believes money cannot be private because it is a public good. He also stressed cryptocurrencies are necessary because we are increasingly rejecting cash:
"In some northern European countries, notably Sweden and the Netherlands, the use of bank notes is falling extremely quickly and they are wondering whether we need to give citizens the right to digital money that is no longer a physical bank note but which has the same quality, notably the security of a central bank."
It has recently been known the Bank of France is preparing to start testing its own digital currency during the first quarter of 2020. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has also announced it has established a task force to study the use cases of national cryptocurrencies (CBDCs).
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