France’s central bank won’t issue its own digital currency anytime soon because doing so would be a complex undertaking that could hurt the country’s flailing economy. That’s the assessment of Pauline Adam Kalfon, a blockchain and cryptocurrency partner at PwC France.
PAULINE KALFON: BITCOIN IS GREAT, BUT COOL YOUR HEELS
Kalfon admits there’s growing interest in bitcoin and blockchain in France.
However, she warned against unchecked over-exuberance, saying the virtual currency economy needs to be battle-tested to ensure that investors are protected from scams, Forbesreported.
“France’s central bank may not be the best entity to drive forward such a digital currency project, which would sit within the prerogatives of the European Central Bank.”
“Having said this, Banque de France could seize technological leadership by following European Central Bank guidance.”
“It is clear that a European-level project would be very complex and challenging governance-wise, requiring alignment and the political consensus of all relevant stakeholders from each Member State.”
CRYPTO SHOULD BE ‘BATTLE-TESTED’ BY CORPORATIONS
Pauline Adam Kalfon (Source: PwC)
Kalfon says rather than have France’s central bank issue a cryptocurrency first, it might be a better idea to have corporations such as Facebook or JPMorgan “battle-test” this experiment first.
“This would reduce the likelihood of potentially negative consequences on the economy arising from any central bank issuing a digital currency.”
“The underlying rationale is…to achieve the right balance between investor protection and technology friendliness.”
