Mastercard CEO, Ajaypal Singh Banga opines that Bitcoin cannot function as an inclusive currency for the unbanked, as a result of its volatility. He shared this opinion during the Fortune Global Forum conference on Tuesday, citing a lack of knowledge about the market forces behind the cryptocurrency market as the reason for his stance.
Speaking further on his stance on Bitcoin as a tool for financial inclusion, Banga claimed that the cryptocurrency doesn’t fulfill the requirements for banking the unbanked, using a wierd example about Coke bottles to illustrate its price volatility:
"Can you imagine someone who is financially excluded trading in a way to get included through a currency that could cost the equivalent of two Coca-Cola bottles today and 21 tomorrow? That's not a way to get them [included]. That's a way to make them scared of the financial system."
He opines however, that if fiat currencies were to go digital they would “help with cross-border traded flows,” before adding that “financial inclusion for individuals is a very different thing.”
Be that as it may, Mastercard has publicly stated that it is open to state-issued digital currencies, and in fact took on a more open stance towards cryptocurrencies by joining Facebook’s Libra project as one of its founding members. However, the payments firm left the project alongside Visa, Stripe, and Paypal, citing a lack of transparency as the main reason for its departure.
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