The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) aims cryptocurrencies as spokesman calls cryptocurrencies useless. In a London briefing, SWIFT spokesman criticized the entire crypto markets calling them unnecessary due to their inefficiency and volatility.
Whenever a revolutionary technology was introduced, there were always people who doubted their potential. People with traditional mindset were still afraid of change and have been after every revolution.
Currently, the technology under discussion is blockchain technology and subsequently cryptocurrencies. As we see central banks criticizing cryptocurrencies, we know that they are afraid of another revolution.
SWIFT’s breakfast briefing was conducted to discuss its new European exchange-to-exchange payments pilot. The project reportedly had achieved sub-one-minute payment times. Regardless, shots were taken at cryptocurrencies as well.
According to a spokesperson, cryptocurrencies are useless as they are too volatile, and even when they are stable, they are still just a collection of currencies. SWIFT considered Facebook‘s Libra the only crypto with any real potential. SWIFT believed that the crypto market would not have any influence on the payments system anytime soon.
SWIFT is the largest financial network across the globe that processes more than thirty million financial messages per day. The system basically acts as a validator for most financial transactions conducted across the world.
Are cryptocurrencies useless?
The network’s sentiment toward cryptocurrencies was expected as its entire purpose would become obsolete due to blockchain technology. If cryptocurrencies achieve mass adoption, SWIFT will be reduced to a marginal organization. Therefore SWIFT’s criticism of cryptocurrencies cannot be considered genuine. Moreover, given what we know about the technology, we cannot label cryptocurrencies useless.
Whatever the criticism was aimed at remains unknown. However, it is inevitable that if SWIFT did not study cryptocurrencies, it would soon find itself falling behind the race to modern finance.
