In a series of interviews over the last week, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has weighed in on how China is far ahead of any other country in creating a Central Bank Digital Currency and why that will help lead to the internationalization of the yuan.
He has also broken down the current phase of digital currencies, talked about the power of fiat-backed tokens like USD Coin (USDC), explained why Facebook’s Libra represents an inflection point for crypto, and provided insight into the role bitcoin and other crypto assets will play in the future of the economy. Oh, and he discussed how he’d talk to Warren Buffett about crypto.
You can read and watch snippets of his interviews below.
EI : BBC World talks with Jeremy Allaire, Chief Executive of Circle
Watch this BBC World interview with Jeremy Allaire, Chief Executive of Circle, broadcast at 01:35 BST on 12/09/19
www.executiveinterviews.com
Circle CEO Tells Bloomberg that China’s Central Bank Digital Currency will Expand its Role in Global Economic Trade. “Unlike any other central bank of a major global currency the PBOC really seems to be quite far ahead on this issue and it’s a pretty strategic move for China as it looks to expand its role in trade, its economic activity, and certainly the role of its currency in global economic activity.”
Circle CEO Tells the BBC that Blockchain Technology Gives Fiat Money Super Powers. “The idea behind USD Coin is you want all the benefits of cryptocurrency-the ability to send and receive currency at the speed of the internet; so in seconds instead of days, hours, etc-you want the ability to do that at virtually no cost; instant, nearly free. You want very high levels of security. And most importantly you want your dollars to be programmable. And one of the promises of blockchain technology is that you can actually essentially write code that allows your money to be programmable just like content and data is on the internet. So it sort of gives super powers to a fiat currency but it’s still fully backed and held in reserve in central bank money. So you get all the benefits of price stability and the underlying price characteristics but with the power of the internet.”
Circle CEO Tells the BBC People Should Expect to See Digital Versions of the Most Popular World Currencies. “There’s really gonna be a few different types of major popular cryptocurrencies. You’re going to have the non-sovereign cryptocurrencies that are really trying to compete with something more like gold, like bitcoin is really playing that role, it’s non-sovereign, it’s viewed as a store of value that has those characteristics. But I think for everyday payments, for sending and receiving money, for building economic relationships around the world over the internet, things that are based on fiat in particular the most popular reserve currencies like the Dollar, RMB, Euro are gonna really be quite popular.”
Circle CEO tells CNBC that Bitcoin will Play an Important Role in the Global Economy. “We’re in a phase where major central bank currencies will get expressed as crypto currencies. And you’ll be able to utilize them with the same speed and ease and efficiency as you can with other cryptocurrencies. But eventually we believe that there will be these global units of account that bring together different reserve currencies and probably these global baskets will also include bitcoin.”
Circle CEO says China’s Digital Currency will Bypass the Western Banking System, Lead to Internationalization of the Yuan. “I think the bigger opportunity here is this is a way for the Chinese yuan to be distributed globally. This becomes a mechanism by which RMB can be used in everyday transactions all around the world. It’s ultimately a foundation for the internationalization of the RMB. The Belt and Road is probably the first path for that. But very clearly this is what I call ‘Over the Top Currencies’ where you essentially have a digital currency that has the reach of the internet, so it can go anywhere the internet can reach. And that’s a really powerful position and it bypasses the Western banking system, SWIFT, things like this, so it’s quite strategic.
Circle CEO tells China’s Phoenix TV that is Far Ahead in the Race to Create a Central Bank Digital Currency. “China is really the only major Central Bank who has been working on a CBDC from a research and development perspective and now appears to be the most significant Central Bank to be launching one commercially. I don’t think anyone else in the world is anywhere close.”
Circle CEO says Facebook’s Libra Project is Exciting, Ambitious. “I think the Libra Association and project is very exciting, very ambitious and represents potentially a huge step forward for how billions of people can exchange value around the world.”
Circle CEO says He’d Tell Warren Buffett About the Transformative Power of Crypto and Blockchains. “I don’t have a date for when that is going to be rescheduled but what I would say is, of course, I would very much look forward to talking to Mr. Buffett about cryptocurrency, crypto assets. If you have watched the rise of the internet over the past 20 years and you’ve seen how that infrastructure has transformed media, communications, retail, commerce, the information industries…I think what we’re seeing now with the birth of cryptocurrencies and blockchains is very similar. And over the next 20 years to the global economic system will be as significant as the internet’s transformation of communications. And so I’d like to talk to Mr. Buffett about what that transformation looks like and what opportunities that creates from an investment perspective.”