Schweizerische Nationalbank Board Director Thomas Moser said he doesn’t think it’s the right time to talk about issuing a national cryptocurrency for the country. During the “Future of Token Economy” panel at the Crypto Valley Conference in Zug, Switzerland last week, Moser said that blockchain is similar to the “useless innovation” of compact discs, according to Cryptovest.
Moser explained that cassette tapes were all the rage until CDs arrived on the scene, then MP3 players took their place, followed by the smartphone revolution. The point is that, since blockchain technology can still be developed further, launching a national cryptocurrency on a technology that’s still practically “in beta” isn’t feasible. He added that there is also the possibility that bitcoin will be replaced by another crypto sooner or later.
“Something similar has to happen with bitcoin. People will only switch to something new if it works better or is cheaper,” he said.
In fact, late last year, Vontobel, the Swiss bank, decided to give investors the ability to bet against cryptocurrency with the launch two mini futures to short bitcoin. If the value of bitcoin falls by 10 percent or more, the value of one of the two mini futures increases by close to 6 percent, while the other increases by nearly 10 percent.
Switzerland isn’t the only country putting plans for a national crypto on hold. Earlier this month, it was reported that Estonia has shelved plans to develop its own national cryptocurrency after the idea prompted criticism by banking authorities and Mario Draghi, the Italian economist and president of the European Central Bank. Estonia, which is among the most tech-friendly countries in eastern Europe, had been a leader in potentially issuing a national cryptocurrency, but the plan was criticized by Draghi earlier in the year when he said the euro can be the only currency in the country.
“No member state can introduce its own currency; the currency of the eurozone is the euro,” Draghi said.
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