Daniel Daianu, a member of the Romanian National Bank (BNR)’s administration Council, has reportedly recently stated he believes cryptocurrencies aren’t going to be able to replace central bank fiat currencies, as these aren’t exactly currencies.
According to local news outlet Business Review, Daianu revealed there’s a need to be aware of the difference between institutions and their roles, as these roles won’t be disappearing in the near future.
The central bank official added that it’s important to make a distinction between blockchain technology and digital currencies, presumably those based on distributed ledgers. Daianu was quoted as saying:
In my opinion, these are financial assets, not cryptocurrencies, and they won’t be able to fulfil the basic roles of currency. Currency is always backed by a last-resort lender. In markets, the state is the only possible last-resort lender. When the banking system was saved, it wasn’t crypto banks that were saved.
The central bank official added be believes “cryptocurrencies will never be able to substitute the currency issued by a central bank,” but that it may be possible for central banks to issue their own digital currencies. He consented that new technologies lead to “disintermediation and this feature of decentralization shows us the merits of networks.”
The central bank official’s words notably come shortly after a Romanian duo was convicted of running a cryptojacking scheme that involved infecting over 400,000 computers with malware. The scheme reportedly netted the duo millions worth of cryptocurrency.
Romanian authorities have last year revealed they suspected the country’s “resist” movement could’ve been involved in money laundering and other illicit activities. The group’s operation may have been supported with cryptocurrency payments.
Notably, last year, the country’s oldest bitcoin exchange was forced to shut down. The exchange, BTCxChange closed its doors shortly after its bank account was closed.
