ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION ANNOUNCING PLANS TO TEST OUT ITS OWN CRYPTOCURRENCY. WELLS FARGO IS THE LATEST BANK WITH PLANS TO PILOT CRYPTOCURRENCY TO EASE CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS.
WELLS FARGO JOINS J-P MORGAN CHASE AS A TRADITIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANY TO TEST OUT BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY. AND, LIKE J-P MORGAN CHASE, WELLS FARGO’S CRYPTOCURRENCY WILL BE BACKED BY FIAT CURRENCY. IN OTHER WORDS, ITS VALUE IS TIED TO THE VALUE OF A STABLE CURRENCY, LIKE THE U-S DOLLAR. AND AS THE FOURTH LARGEST BANK IN THE WORLD, WELLS FARGO HAS A LOT TO GAIN BY IMPLEMENTING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY FOR CROSS-BORDER PAYMENTS.
SO WELLS FARGO HAS ALREADY TESTED ITS CRYPTOCURRENCY SYSTEM BETWEEN U.S. AND CANADIAN ACCOUNTS USING U.S. DOLLARS. AND OTHER CURRENCIES WILL BE CONSIDERED IN THE FUTURE. IN THE BEGINNING, WELLS FARGO’S CRYPTOCURRENCY WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ITS CORPORATE CUSTOMERS. THE WHOLE PILOT PROGRAM IS EXPECTED TO ROLL OUT NEXT YEAR, IN 2020.
BUT, WHY BLOCKCHAIN MONEY TRANSFERS ARE SO APPEALING. AND DOES IT SEEM LIKE THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY GRAVITATING TO IT MORE AND MORE? TRADITIONAL WAYS OF TRANSFERRING MONEY, LIKE WIRING, CAN TAKE DAYS TO COMPLETE AND RESULT IN ADDED COSTS AND FEES. BY CONTRAST, BLOCKCHAIN PAYMENT NETWORKS HAVE THE ABILITY TO COMPLETE PAYMENTS ALMOST INSTANTANEOUSLY AND SECURELY. CRYPTOCURRENCY CAN HAVE A BIT OF A BAD RAP IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC. BUT, LIKE I’VE SAID BEFORE, CRYPTOCURRENCY ISN’T ALL DARK WEB AND CRAZY RATES OF INFLATION OR DEFLATION. WHEN USED STRATEGICALLY–AND WHEN BACKED BY FIAT CURRENCY–IT CAN MAKE PAYMENTS FASTER, CHEAPER AND A MOSTLY FRICTIONLESS EXPERIENCE. THIS IS A PRACTICAL USE FOR BLOCKCHAIN IN THE ENTERPRISE, AND IT’LL ALL BECOME NORMAL QUICKER THAN YOU MAY THINK.
BY 2022, IT’S EXPECTED THAT 25 PERCENT OF ALL CROSS BORDER PAYMENTS INVOLVING U.S. BANKS WILL USE STABLECOINS TRANSFERRED VIA BLOCKCHAIN. AND THAT’S WHY THIS IS BIG. ANOTHER GIANT FINANCIAL INSTITUTION GETTING ON BOARD WITH BLOCKCHAIN MEANS BLOCKCHAIN–AND CRYPTOCURRENCY–BECOMING STATUS QUO. AND WHILE THIS IS JUST AVAILABLE TO CORPORATIONS IN THE BEGINNING, FACEBOOK’S LIBRA CRYPTOCURRENCY–WHICH IS SET TO LAUNCH NEXT YEAR AS WELL–COULD BRING CRYPTO TO THE MASSES. YOU KNOW, ASSUMING COUNTRIES ALLOW ITS CITIZENS TO USE IT.
SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS THE WORLD READY FOR CRYPTOCURRENCY TO BECOME THE NORM? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS, AND THANKS FOR WATCHING. IF YOU LIKED THIS VIDEO BE SURE TO GIVE IT A THUMBS UP AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL. CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW TO MORE ON THIS STORY FROM COMPUTERWORLD. WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME.
