Comment from the Bank of Canada deputy governor
- Pandemic has accelerated BOC's work to prepare for a digital currency
- Such a currency would be issued only if and when time is right, it's by no means a foregone conclusion
- Key factors to consider would be tipping point where use of cash sharply declined and because private sector offerings are deeply flawed
- Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin don't have a plausible claim to be a money of the future, recent spike looks more like a speculative mania
- Serious privacy concerns remain about stablecoins
Criticizing stablecoins on privacy concerns may turn out to be a very rich position if/when central banks launch digital currencies. Governments will no doubt be watching and harvesting data.
