Anyone who has learned bitcoin will recognize its genius. Banks must move immediately

If, ten years ago, someone had predicted that the value of a new, for many unknown asset, the tiny cryptomen bitcoin, would exceed tens of thousands of dollars, the vast majority of people would probably have ridiculed it.

However, cryptocurrencies have been part of our world for several years and we can say that with their arrival they have significantly changed the financial world as we know it. In connection with their regulation and “opponents”, there is mostly talk of banks for which, according to many, cryptocurrencies pose a great risk or even threaten their existence in the future.

Jaromír Sladkovský has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the CEO of the Czech Raiffeisen Investment Company, which provides services in the area of ​​collective investment and asset management for several years. At the same time, however, as a banker, he is one of the big enthusiasts he owns, and in the interview he explained not only the attitude of banks to cryptocurrencies, but also their greatest benefits and risks for traditional financial institutions, as well as the future of national digital currencies.

What will you learn in the interview?

• How Jaromír got to cryptocurrencies and why they attracted him as a banker
• According to him, what are the biggest advantages of cryptocurrencies over traditional assets
• Whether cryptocurrencies have the potential to replace the current financial system and what risk they pose to banks
• What is the main reason for the development of national digital currencies and whether they may threaten the future of cryptocurrencies
• Does it recommend ordinary people to invest in cryptocurrencies and what can change the arrival of the first bitcoin ETF

How and when did you actually get to the cryptocurrencies as a “traditional” banker? Why are you interested in the world of cryptocurrencies?

IT colleagues talked about bitcoin in its early days, sometime around 2011. Like many others, I didn’t pay much attention to it. I first became more interested in the world of cryptocurrencies sometime in 2017.

While mentoring at Startupyard, I met two Indian girls who founded ShufflUp. When you meet two Indian girls who both look like they are fifteen years old, they are about to start a company to trade on crypto exchanges on the basis of complex arbitrage algorithms, you will easily notice. However, even then I did not go too far. As a normal IT user, it all seemed complicated and I didn’t give it the mental energy it required.

I think that the real turning point for me did not occur until the turn of 2020 and 2021, when I realized how much of the intellectual “capacity” in the world is devoted to the crypto world. I would simply say that as soon as you “open your head”, it must engulf you.

What are the biggest advantages of cryptocurrencies over “traditional” assets?

I don’t know if I would put it that simple. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Cryptocurrencies bring undoubtedly many benefits, and at the same time they bring with them many risks that we have not had to deal with so far, or someone has taken care of them for us. Speed, efficiency, decentralization, pseudonymity are for me probably the most significant on the side for. On the other hand, we have the risk of fraud, the possibility of manipulation, the question of monitoring what you do 24/7, the unpreparedness of customer support, etc ..

In general, I think that blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies are changing and can significantly change some of the paradigms of our time, as we have known them so far and have not thought at all that it could work differently. For example, when I pay cash in a store, I don’t need any trust between buyer and seller. The change will take place immediately.

If I pay by credit card, then usually the merchant selling the goods only accepts cards that are backed by some authority (card association, bank). Only thanks to this institution does the seller trust the buyer to get paid for the goods he has sold. Decentralization in cryptocurrencies allows to eliminate the so-called “Authority” resp. intermediary and replace it with a system that both sellers and buyers can trust and, as a result, can make such a transaction cheaper.

In general, what is the attitude of banks and bankers to cryptocurrencies? As an enthusiast, are you more of an exception?

I do not see any difference between bankers and the general population. Rather, I see different groups in terms of how interested they are in this topic and how they have opened up to it. Sometimes I say to myself when I hear statements about cryptocurrencies as about the Ponzi scheme, cecs, or that there will be no cryptocurrencies with us in three years, whether those who declare it actually know something deeper about it, or simply “just” did not give mental energy. which is needed for their understanding and adoption.

Read also
Cryptocurrencies are in the First War. They have misled everyone, but what’s next?

Things are often simplified too – bitcoin is not gold and the like. Yes, it is not, it is not and cannot be at the moment – it is still too early, but it can play a similar role at some point. Anyone who has read the whitepaper on Bitcoin (a document with detailed information about the project, binding plans of developers or examples of use, editor’s note) must acknowledge its genius. It’s not about inventing complicated things, because they never work well.

Simple things are important that work well with our own human motives and create the right motives in us. So back to your question – I think the number of people who are interested in the crypto world and want to understand it is expanding, even among bankers.

Do cryptocurrencies have the potential to “replace” the current financial system, or will they just become part of it?

This article is available to members of Startitup PREMIUM

(You can cancel at any time)

I am a PREMIUM member: Log in