Is the Trump administration’s decision to end production of the penny going to shift United States financial institutions like Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo into the cryptocurrency business? Maybe.
Are Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo getting into cryptocurrency?
According to PYMNTS, the nation’s largest banks are looking into a joint venture in the cryptocurrency sphere. The group, which reportedly includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, would launch its own cryptocurrency tied to the U.S. dollar.
This is a huge departure for the finance world after years of its major players showing skepticism about blockchain technology. But big banks stepping into the crypto market could mean foundational changes for the industry and how it works, in particular regarding payments.
The users on Reddit’s r/EconomicMemes largely panned this idea about six months ago. In the thread, many users appeared concerned with how a digital dollar might impact what is, for now, an unregulated crypto market.
What do consumers think about this “digital dollar”?
“Common standards foster collaboration and they are always enforced coercively,” wrote one user.
“Digital currencies will make it easier to track criminals,” a second user said.
“They will also cost energy to transfer like Bitcoin. This is bad,” wrote another person. “This would elevate a cryptocurrency to the status of the dollar except for the transaction costs with the added downside that the government can track and see all your transactions. I don’t think it would be widely used when you can just use the regular dollar more easily.”
Someone else countered, “It also costs energy to transfer physical money, the gas to power a car. Turns out the physics says it costs energy to do anything actually! Like everything requires energy!”
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