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Ex-Goldman Chief Says We’ll Have a Global Cryptocurrency, But Not Bitcoin

Georgi Georgiev | May 09, 2018 | 19:00

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Former president of Goldman Sachs, Gary Cohn, said on Tuesday that he believes the world will have a global currency. However, he doesn’t seem to believe that the latter will be bitcoin.’

‘Not a big believer in bitcoin’

In an interview for CNBC on Tuesday, Gary Cohn said that he believes there will be a global cryptocurrency. He also shared that he’s not a Bitcoin believer but he does favor its underlying technology.

He said:

I’m not a big believer in bitcoin. I am a believer in blockchain technology. […] I do think we will have a global cryptocurrency at some point where the world understands it and it’s not based on mining costs or cost of electricity or things like that.

‘It Will Probably Have Some Blockchain Technology’

Explaining his vision for the future global cryptocurrency, Cohn adds profound arguments of the kind:

It will be a more easily understood cryptocurrency […] It will probably have some blockchain technology behind it, but it will be much more easily understood how it’s created, how it moves and how people can use it.

Is Bitcoin that complex, though? Bitcoin successfully eliminates the need for trusted intermediaries–like Goldman Sachs–and makes long-distance transfers cheaper and more secure.

Of course, it has run into a lot of issues along the way. Bitcoin mining truly is very energy-intensive, it has problems with handling high volumes of transactions and it has become slower as such. It’s also true that there are currently existing alternatives which perform better in certain aspects.

However, ignoring the facts that Bitcoin is the first of its kind and that it has been field tested for almost a decade, proving its usability and performance capabilities in the process, is just inappropriate. What is more, Cohn’s old firm seems to have quite a lot of faith in Bitcoin itself.

Goldman Sachs Recognizing Bitcoin’s Impact

Earlier this month, Rana Yared, an executive at Cohn’s ex-firm, said that Bitcoin “is not a fraud”. What is more, she also seems to have revealed the bank’s intentions to offer Bitcoin trading. In a definitive statement, she noted:

It resonates with us when a client says, ‘I want to hold Bitcoin or Bitcoin futures because I think it is an alternate store of value.

Furthermore, responding to significant client interest, the bank has already hired crypto trader who will help the company expand into the markets for digital assets. The news came as no surprise, though, as the minimum trading sizes for Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, had doubled up.

It’s obvious that Cohn’s ex-employer is deviating from the position of the former president, to which he responded briefly:

They should do what they think’s in the best interests of their shareholders.

Do you think Bitcoin has what it takes to become a global cryptocurrency? Please let us know in the comments below!

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