Deloitte published its annual Blockchain study: A new age of digital assets . In particular, we learn that 76% of financial executives believe that bitcoin and “ digital assets will serve as an alternative to fiat currencies, or even replace them, in the next 5 to 10 years ”.
The currency whose name must not be pronounced
First of all, it should be noted that the paper does not only contain the word bitcoin once… The expression “digital assets ” – which includes CBDC and bitcoin – is preferred. However, the authors speak of “blockchain” several times so that the unspoken is not too obvious.
The fact remains that the amalgamation between the BTC and the CBDC is grotesque when we know that the latter promises to be a substitute for cash making it possible to establish a negative rate on savings . The CBDC has absolutely nothing in common with bitcoin. Rather, it is its antithesis.
Deloitte being part of the Big 4 of global audit and consulting firms (CA $ 47 billion in 2020), one should not expect a cypherpunk manifesto either. Nevertheless, even if the cabinet carefully avoids getting wet, certain passages do not deceive:
“ The proliferation of everything digital, both as a medium of exchange and as a store of value , has grown considerably.”
Store of value ? We are talking about bitcoin..
A survey without appeal
The paper is based on a survey carried out in April among 1,280 executives in 10 different countries: South Africa, Brazil, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.
Note that among these 1,280 executives “ all having an understanding of blockchain, crypto-currencies and digital assets, ” 320 came from the financial sector, including 70 digital asset pioneers.
Almost 80% of all respondents said digital assets will be “ very / somewhat important ” in the near future.
Over 75% of financial executives strongly or somewhat agree that “ their firm will lose an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage if it does not embrace blockchain and digital assets ”.
“81% of respondents believe that blockchain technology can enable transactions on a global scale. ”/“ 78% of respondents have a leadership that believes blockchain, digital assets and / or cryptocurrency should be part of business strategy ”(((Overall = 1280 executives surveyed; FSI overall = 320 financial executives ; Pioneer ISPs = pioneer financial executives)))
The end of cash
We spoke about it above, the great plan of the bankers is to make the cash disappear. This is what this paper confirms:
“THE END of physical money as we know it is a late – and now inevitable – development . There is a consensus among our teams that digital assets will replace fiat currencies within the next five to ten years.”
More than 75% of respondents (the same among financiers) believe that this change will take place within 5 to 10 years. And this figure rises to 94% among pioneer financiers who also believe that “ blockchain will be a means of gaining a competitive advantage”.
The “competitive advantages” are not mentioned but everyone knows them. Bitcoin is a hedge against inflation and mass surveillance. Deloitte reports, however, that the fees attached to international transactions bring banks $ 2 trillion per year . This is about 2000 times more than the fees collected by BTC miners …
It is true that we should talk about fees per transaction, but I refer you to the Lightning Network . And let’s not forget that Visa and Mastercard arrogate between 1% and 3% of the amount of each transaction …
The paper’s conclusion is that the nature of money will change over the next decade . In the future, “money is fast and transactions cheap”. ” Banks and indeed all other sectors – have no choice but to adapt to change .”
