One of the biggest accounting firms in the world says that the underlying technology behind Bitcoin (BTC) is a good starting point for developing an efficient central bank digital currency (CBDC).
According to a new report from UK-based accounting giant Deloitte, blockchain-based cryptocurrencies have attributes that when combined with the properties of fiat currencies, could result in cutting-edge state-backed digital assets.
“What would happen if we combined the best attributes of the technology of cryptocurrencies with the features of an established fiat currency under the sponsorship of a central bank? The result very well may just be a new method of handling payments that would revolutionize the current system.
With the potential to reduce costs, reduce errors, speed the transfer of money, balance privacy with anonymity, and do it without the day-to-day operational need for a centralized organization, whether commercial or federal, the result could truly be transformational.
Such a system would need to have important roles for banks…and it would need to have the full endorsement of the central bank.”
Deloitte points to the inner workings of Bitcoin as a framework that central banks could use to bolster the utility of CBDCs.
“The foundation of a state-sponsored cryptocurrency would be much like Bitcoin – individuals or companies would utilize computer-generated public ‘addresses’ to send and receive payments.
Payers could use an electronic wallet on a smartphone or computer to send money to the public address of the recipients. Unlike Bitcoin’s current system, however, banks and other financial institutions, previously approved by the central bank, would be the custodians of a shared, distributed [blockchain].”
Bitcoin is changing hands at $41,422 at time of writing, nearly a 1% dip on the day.
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