!!!Central Banks, Stablecoins and the Looming War of Currencies!!!

Michael J.Casey posted today:

Michael J. Casey is the chairman of CoinDesk’s advisory board and a senior advisor for blockchain research at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative.

This essay is presented as a part of No Closing Bell, a series leading up to Invest: Asia 2019 focused on how the Asian crypto markets are interacting with and impacting global investors. To keep the conversation going in person, register for Invest: Asia 2019 coming up in Singapore on Sept. 11-12.

Facebook’s Libra project, in which a group of companies managing a basket of fiat currencies will maintain a digital token at a stable, redeemable value, has taken the idea of “stablecoins” out of the crypto echo chamber and thrust it into the public arena.

But if the raging debate that Libra sparked among government officials, financial executives and businessmen seems overwhelming, you better get used to it. A flood of competing stablecoins is coming to the global economy. And Asia, with its vibrant cross-border trade, might be Ground Zero in their battle for supremacy.

This is both exciting and somewhat terrifying.

By far the most important player here is not a startup, a bank, or even a tech company. It’s the Chinese government.

FULL NEWS HERE:

https://www.coindesk.com/central-banks-stablecoins-and-the-looming-war-of-currencies