In the News

German Finance Minister Speaks in Favor of Digital Euro

Coinspeaker
10/07/2019

Olaf Scholz who is currently the German finance minister has indicated his stance on the cryptocurrencies in particular and electronic money in general. According to local sources, he made his position known last week and also revealed skepticism for private-interest cryptocurrencies such as Facebook’s Libra. He proposed the introduction of an electronic Euro which won’t serve a replacement of the current Euro system but will be used alongside it.

He said:

“Such a payment system would be good for the financial center Europe and its integration into the world financial system,”

This reveals that the European financial house and what is easily Europe’s biggest economy may already be mulling and looking into the creation of electronic currency. What isn’t clear, however, is whether the other countries that make up the European Union are willing to follow Germany’s leadership except for Germany’s key ally: France.

Scholz further stated:

“A core element of state sovereignty is the publication of a currency, we will not leave it to private companies,”

This shows the skepticism of Germany and by extension most of Europe against private-interest cryptocurrencies such as Facebook’s Libra. This will go a long way against Libra when Facebook plans to introduce its cryptocurrency early next year.

What Next for Europe then?
The signs are clear. European nations are clearly for public interest cryptocurrencies but won’t be eager to see the control of monetary systems within the European Union in the hands of private interests and corporations. This further indicates the hardened “anti-trust” stance that the EU currently has as regards business in general and finance in particular.

For now, though, the Germans are bent on ensuring that their financial systems remain heavily regulated by the state and not left to the whims of private interests in any way, form or manner.

This also indicates the resolve of the Germans to launch their electronic currency in some sort of friendly competition with other nations and regions. Recently it has been reported that the United States is also moving in that direction as well. Representatives French Hill (R-Arkansas) and Bill Foster (D-Illinois) have questioned the United States Federal Reserve on this issue and may want to pursue further action in this regard.

The Chinese as it has been widely reported have also shown their interest in introducing a national cryptocurrency. Already, national cryptocurrencies have made strong showing reports suggest.

This also creates a paradigm where Nation-States are willing to experiment with the underlying technologies that underpin cryptocurrencies. The ultimate implication of this is that the cryptocurrency is not only growing but adoption is also on its way as well.

In the next decade, cryptocurrencies and peer-to-peer payments will be the most talked-about phenomenon and this is how the global discussion on cryptocurrencies starts!