Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies have received mixed comments from conventional banking authorities from across the globe. While many business houses are actively endorsing decentralized tokens, the path for mainstream adoption remains uncertain.
Earlier this year, El Salvador became the first country to legalize cryptocurrencies. However, many have been vociferously criticizing the move. The latest to discredit Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as an actual currency is South Africa’s top banking authority’s governor.
Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), has detested the idea of treating Bitcoins and other altcoins as currency. He was speaking at a session at the Wits Business School Leadership Dialogues.
In his argument explaining Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to not be a currency, he said: “A cryptocurrency is a store of value. It is a medium of exchange but is not generally accepted. It’s only accepted by those who are participating in it.”
Kganyago is not the first to criticize crypto and consider it not worthy of being a cryptocurrency. Many central banking authorities have done so in the past. But over the past few years, we have seen the swing and many have gone soft on their anti-crypto stance.
El Salvador has already made Bitcoin a legal tender and it remains to be seen how it fares for the economy. With his move to legalize Bitcoin, the president was hopeful that it will help boost the Central American nation’s dwindling economy.
