Anyone who thinks that cryptocurrencies are going away anytime soon is mistaken.
Speaking at the Blockchain for Global Impact summit held at the UN Plaza, Rustin Benham, an official of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission heaped praise on cryptocurrencies and lauded its power to transform the economic and social landscape.
He said,
“Virtual currencies will become part of the economic practices of any country, anywhere. These currencies are not going away and they will proliferate to every economy and every part of the planet. Virtual currencies could transform the economic and social landscape.”
To totally outlaw cryptocurrencies in a country would not be the best decision, Benham suggested while referring to the continuous effort of the US Securities Exchange Commission and the CFTC to establish regulations that allow cryptocurrencies to contribute positively to the nation’s economy.
Other nations could follow a similar pattern instead of warring against the digital assets. However, just after expressing conviction on the power of the cryptocurrency backbone, blockchain technology, to spark major reforms, he warned of potential pitfalls that could result from mismanagement.
A lack of diligence and thoughtfulness in tracking the technology’s movement could birth “corruption, criminality, and division on a greater scale,” Benham said.
Even though cryptocurrencies have been used as a modern means of fraud especially to the unsuspecting public, the technological revolution has redefined cross-border payments.
Crypto exchanges are fast replacing traditional banking systems. The adoption rate across many countries has been massive and is not showing any signs of dropping.
Blockchain technology, on the one hand, is addressing issues in healthcare, employment, education, payments, and crime, among other sectors.
This has drawn global attention and explains why the BGI summit was instituted. It is part of a UN Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development program and is designed to uncover new applications of the technology in improving sustainable development.
With or without regulations, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has come to stay and will never really go away anytime soon.