Post-Pandemic Money Matters: Digital Transformation and Cryptocurrency

In this time of uncertainty, there’s a lot of speculation about what’s going to happen when the pandemic drags on, and what could happen when it’s finally over. One of those is its impact on financial institutions, transactions, and money matters in general.

In an interview with Finextra TV, Tony McLaughlin, Emerging Payments, and Business Development, Citi, explores the deal about speculations that the pandemic will encourage the acceleration of digital transformation and digital currencies (cryptocurrency).

McLaughlin believes that the digital transformation will not be concentrated on one area only. It won’t be just about going to Zoom, PayPal, or the like, but it would utilize other platforms too. Services will also vary.

As for Bitcoin, McLaughlin believes that it still remains as an alternative or mere speculative kind of asset. Much like when people invest in art, wine, and jewelry. Bitcoin as payment for transactions has not really taken off yet, even during this pandemic, so McLaughlin concludes that it won’t really replace actual money transactions in the near future.

However, there’s also the thing about new digital currencies that are emerging in China, Sweden, and England. McLaughlin says that these developments should also be observed, especially because it involves attempts to create a central bank digital currency.

He notes, however, that the digital currency in China is more of a domestic electronic payment, and it is a multilateral system that involves at least 2 major players. Sweden and England are still in talks about a central bank digital currency. However, Sweden already has some sort of system in place, wherein people can access public money, and not just rely on private digital transactions.

Regarding privacy concerns, McLaughlin is not worried. He believes that blockchain technology is secure, and people will only divulge some information about themselves if they want to. However, he is not sure with government databases, because these are also known to be not so private or highly secure at most times.