In what seems like quite the endorsement for cryptocurrencies, the chairman of the global provider of secure financial messaging services, Swift, said that cryptocurrencies are causing an extraordinary change in the financial industry. He also mentioned Libra, the cryptocurrency created by social media mogul Facebook.
Speaking at the Sibos 2019 conference in London, the chairman of Swift, Yawar Shah, made quite an endorsement of cryptocurrencies.
He said that they are driving an “extraordinary” change in the financial industry.
The Financial industry is undergoing an extraordinary change because of new entrants like Facebook’s Libra and the emergence of technologies like cryptoassets.
Swift is among the most widely used systems in the world, as it has sent over 7.8 billion FIN messages and connects over 11,000 institutions. It operates in over 200 countries and territories.
The question is, however, whether Swift is in danger due to crypto’s emergence. Earlier this year, the CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, said that XRP was overtaking Swift.
What Ripple is executing every day is to take over Swift. Currently, we’ve signed up over 100 swift-enabled banks that are now using the Ripple technology. The technology used by the banks today that Swift developed years back hasn’t really evolved or even kept up with the current market.
Another thing to consider, especially after being mentioned by Shah, is Facebook’s Libra. The cryptocurrency envisioned by the world’s largest social media company aims to allow the platform’s more than 2 billion users to transact in a peer-to-peer manner, which would essentially eliminate the need for any intermediaries.
It’s questionable, however, if Facebook’s stablecoin will be able to do that, as it will need to meet quite a lot of regulatory standards. Indeed, legislators around the world have been quite cautious about allowing the project to go forward.
In any case, it’s clear that cryptocurrencies are being recognized more and more, and that even household names such as Swift are starting to recognize their merits and prominence.