It has come from one of the most unlikeliest of allies. The head of the organisation that is most associated with global financial elites has admitted the massive potential of cryptocurrencies.
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary fund made the statements in an interview with CNBC where she said:
I think that we are about to see massive disruptions.
This was not the first positive overture from one of the world's top financiers. She recently entertained the idea that the IMF could issue its own cryptocurrency. The idea was in relation the the SDR (Special Drawing Reserve).
The SDR is used as a drawing facility for countries that require financing from the IMF. If the IMF was to place a cryptocurrency in there it would diversify away from the current reliance on the US Dollar and the Euro inside the SDR.
The IMF has also been looking into cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions for cross border payments. For example, at a conference in June last month in London she mentioned that the distributed ledger technology would allow for more effective ways of combatting fraud.
She was also not afraid to confront comments that another well-known financier made about the coins. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan said last month that Bitcoin was a fraud. She countered that assertion and spoke to the real potential of Bitcoin.
Those comments by Jamie Dimon could have had a short term effect on Bitcoin as it fell quite a bit in the coming days. There were even market abuse allegations levelled against him. However, given the recent climb of Bitcoin to record highs above more than $5,500, it seems the market has a view similar to that of Lagarde than Dimon.
Featured Image via Wikimedia
