Cryptocurrency could replace fiat money: Deutsche Bank analysts

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In its report for the decade ahead, titled 'Imagine 2030', Deutsche Bank sees a huge possibility for cryptocurrencies becoming the preferred payment method, expecting to even replace fiat money. This is amongst one of the many things ingrained in our world that 2020s may bid farewell to, according to Jim Reid, Global Head of Fundamental Credit, Strategy and Thematic Research, Deutsche Bank.

“We predict the end of plastic credit cards, the end of high profit margins, and the end of low corporate tax rates,” he said in his prologue to Imagine 2030. Talking about India specifically, he said the country’s recent structural reforms mean it could become one of the world’s leading sources of middle-class demand.

Imagine 2030 stated that the forces that hold the fiat money system together look fragile, particularly decades of low labour costs. Over the next decade, some of these forces could begin to unravel and the demand for alternative currencies, from gold to crypto, could take off.

Marione Laboure, an economics and finance lecturer at Harvard, who authored a section in the report, pointed out that cryptocurrencies have always been additions, rather than substitutes, to the global inventory of money. “They have not managed to take off as a means of payment despite their well-known benefits, such as security, speed, minimal transaction fees, ease of storage and relevance in the digital era,” she claimed.

Buying and selling of cryptocurrency is currently banned in India. However, Laboure expects this to change.

She pointed out how the Indian government declared that INR 1,000 and INR 500 notes would no longer be valid despite strong resistance to change and temporary cash shortage in 2016. “Recently, a government economic panel pitched for the introduction of an official digital currency with the status of legal tender and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India,” she contended.

If cryptocurrencies gain governmental support followed by proper regulation, and consumers indicate their clear preference for it, it won’t be long before it goes mainstream. According to various market experts, this will be advantageous to the business ecosystem, including merchants and consumers, who will then have a global digital payment mechanism.