It seems banks either still don’t trust (or don’t fully appreciate) cryptocurrency just yet.
Rabobank Isn’t That Big a Fan of Crypto
Recently, Dutch financial institution Rabobank has cancelled the plans for its upcoming digital currency wallet. The service – which would have been called Rabobit – would have allegedly “bridged the gap” between cryptocurrency and traditional financial options. Unfortunately, it appears the project has been scrapped.
The bank released a statement, explaining:
After careful consideration with our customers in mind, we recently decided that now is not the time to develop the idea further and bring it to the next phase of innovation.
If not now, when? That’s the big question that’s likely on everybody’s minds, from basic traders to early investors in bitcoin. Cryptocurrency, whether big-name financial companies like Rabobank choose to see it or not, is now considered a legit trading enterprise. A market that investors can enjoy and should take seriously. It’s here and it’s happening, so what’s the big problem? Are banks and similar financial establishments so incapable of seeing the truth? Perhaps they just don’t want to.
The fact is that cryptocurrencies are largely decentralized and are designed to do the opposite of what banks do – give financial independence back to the people. Banks ultimately work by “controlling” their customers. Individuals are subject to their terms and conditions, and unless these conditions are met, people cannot gain access to the money or credit they might need to survive and purchase everyday goods and services.
Crypto, on the other hand, requires no central establishment to thrive. It’s simply placed in the hands of the people, who can either sit and watch it grow, or potentially use it to live. Crypto doesn’t “pull people’s strings” the way banks do, and if this gets too big, banks are likely afraid they’ll be run out of town faster than an outlaw in the Old West.
So, what are they doing? Many are simply turning their backs on crypto altogether and claiming it’s either unsafe or worse… Illegitimate. It’s unclear if Rabobank is taking this course, though to be fair, they were initially looking to develop the project in the first place.
More Regulation Is Likely Needed
Spokespersons for Rabobank claim that it was during the project’s creation that executives came across “valuable insight” that swayed them to reject their current plans for crypto and related crypto-payment systems. They explain:
We have learned valuable lessons about our customers and the crypto market and on how to design blockchain and crypto applications. For instance, Dutch authorities, AFM (market conduct supervision) and DNB (Dutch central bank, financial stability), recommend regulations of cryptos at an international level.
Sadly, such regulation isn’t quite possible yet as law-making would be placed in the hands of individual nations, all of which are not at the same level of implementation.