Digital assets should not be tabooed by governments. Such an opinion expressed Herman Gref, the head of Russia’s largest and most known bank Sberbank. Moreover, the banker, who previously claimed to own some digital money, also induced the financial society and governments to be more enduring and lenient when it comes to controlling over bitcoin and its ilks.
No Hurry For Regulation: Background First
In a statement, made on January 24, Gref also said that authorities should not hurry up curbing on cyber money, but firstly the healthy environment in the ecosystem should be provided.
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"Before trying to regulate it, it is necessary to maintain a normal background around the blockchain technology and cryptocurrency,” said Gref.
The banker also added that people need to be aware of the crypto nature and should not use them as assets.
“It is necessary to explain to people that it does not store value," believes the Russian banker.
He added that currently what people should realize is that cyber money can indeed be hazardous just the way gambling is, including the casino.
Therefore, Gref urged everybody against digital currency forbiddance. According to him, this should not be done as bitcoin, and its brethren are a new kind of technology which continues evolving. So it needs to be studied and looked with a lot of attention.
Gref’s Initial Thoughts on Cyber Money
In 2016, Gref, also Sberbank’s leader at that time, stated that thanks to cryptocurrencies there was no more space left for such financial institutions as banks. At one of the conferences, he mentioned that he considered applying blockchain technology in the area of the banking ecosystem.
"We considered the prospects of using blockchain technology. I would not say anything about this technology because there is a lot to talk about here. But when you are considering the prospects of using mature blockchain technology... In general, there is no place for banks there,” said Gref.
Nevertheless, he also confirmed that he owned some bitcoins and ethers at that moment.
