Finetechs should leave currency to central banks- Brad Smith

Technologies companies are not to issue private stablecoin, according to Microsoft President, Brad Smith.

At an online conference organized by the Bank for International Settlement, the above stated remark was made by Brad Smith and he posited that the supply of money should be under prerogative Central Bank and government.

He further posited that currency control, should be under the only entity that protect the common good and he further posited that he is not in support of asking Fintech companies to issue currencies.

With Facebook being a participant in the Diem project, the comments of Smith is likely to put Microsoft in opposition to them.

Libra was the name of Diem project was it was launched in 2019 and which caused issues among the regulators of finance. It has been argued that issue stable coin under the banner of Facebook, could lead to a distinctive risks to the world monetary policy.

Siding with financial regulators, Smith state:

“I think the world has been better served by what has been a movement over centuries to put that in the hands of governments. We’re not a bank and we don’t want to become a bank and we don’t want to compete with our customers who are banks.”

The appeal surrounding virtual currencies seems to have gained significant momentum amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the calls for greater adoption of digital payment systems.

To counter the perceived threats posed by private stablecoin projects like Diem, several central banks are developing their own sovereign digital currencies.

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