Zeno Staub, CEO of Swiss bank Vontobel, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the financial institution sees growing appetite for cryptocurrencies from its clients. He also emphasized that blockchain technology will bring "significant changes" to the financial sector.
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"Clients have an interest in cryptocurrencies. We believe that the underlying technology is actually more important than certain types of applications," Staub said.
The Vontobel CEO also said that the bank is restricting activities of its users with cryptocurrencies as it wants to offer access in a "secure way." At the same time, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) sees no need to switch to a central bank digital currency (CBDC). According to SNB's Chief Economist, Carlos Lenz, decentralization is not what is needed for the national currency, which depends on full control by the state.
Thus, Switzerland will continue to prioritize electronic settlement and cash flow, continuing the CBDC research. Lenz also added there is no risk that the Swiss franc could be supplanted by other currencies if Switzerland remains on the sidelines in the development of digital currencies.
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