Banks were supposed to be frightened of Bitcoin

[LakeBTC]

How blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, could turn traditional banking on its head


Last year, in a commentary for Fortune called “Why banks fear Bitcoin,” MIT business professor Trond Undheim wrote that “banks are afraid of Bitcoin because it would force them to innovate.”

“Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve,”  Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin wrote in 2009.  “We have to trust them with our privacy, trust them not to let identity thieves drain our accounts.” In some countries, banks even banned any transactions connected to Bitcoin.

But lately, banks have been warming to the technology behind Bitcoin, called blockchain — using it to innovate, in fact — having recognized the advantages of the lightning-fast, decentralized transaction verification system as having broad applications for transactions involving everything from stock trades to money and property transfers.


http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/how-blockchain-the-technology-behind-bitcoin-could-turn-traditional-banking-on-its-head

[keysplease]

Perhaps it's different from other revolutions such as the paper to the digital for companies because this one isn't going to cost them anything.

[ajareselde]

The same topic has been discussed many times over. The banks can utilize the blockchain, but since bitcoin poses competition to them, they seperate their interest
in blockchain tech away from bitcoin.
imho it doesn't matter, bitcoin is advancing slowly, and taking away their fees and profits, and it's just a matter of time when they won't be able to ignore it anymore.

cheers

[neoneros]

it would force them to innovate.

That was 2009, now it is six years later and banks have been forced to rethink some things, but as to be expected, it did not turn out to be that drasctic and the banks saw an oppurtunity to make a tech bubble make it seem they innovated and put the cost at the customers, spend money to make money, but they did not addapt to the basic idea of bitcoin, the decentralisation of the economy of money, the internet of things, that is where we are going, the banks took what they thought fitted within their grasp and existing systems and labelled it 'blockchain technology'. It is like the cheese on the frozen pizza's there is not real cheese in it, but they sell it as such.

[Lauda]

The same topic has been discussed many times over. The banks can utilize the blockchain, but since bitcoin poses competition to them, they seperate their interest
in blockchain tech away from bitcoin.
imho it doesn't matter, bitcoin is advancing slowly, and taking away their fees and profits, and it's just a matter of time when they won't be able to ignore it anymore.

cheers

Exactly. As soon as they have started cherishing blockchain technology only, it was a sign that they were starting to become afraid. Basically they are trying to separate the technology from Bitcoin itself.
They will try to upgrade and improve their systems so that they can keep up. The real question is, are people going to stay blind to their schemes?

Perhaps it's different from other revolutions such as the paper to the digital for companies because this one isn't going to cost them anything.

Actually it is going to cost them everything as soon as Bitcoin picks up. Bitcoin is slowly growing, and as soon as some big retailers start accepting it, things will change. That would make Bitcoin overthrow any service such as Paypal in no time. However, the block size debate needs to be resolved before that can happen.

[acquafredda]

The same topic has been discussed many times over. The banks can utilize the blockchain, but since bitcoin poses competition to them, they seperate their interest
in blockchain tech away from bitcoin.
imho it doesn't matter, bitcoin is advancing slowly, and taking away their fees and profits, and it's just a matter of time when they won't be able to ignore it anymore.

cheers

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatma Gandhi

I hope it will work out this way.
Even though considering the little knowledge people have around this matter at large I'm not surprised at all if one day banks will start using their own blockchain technology and people will fall into it without even knowing of BTC existence.

[HCLivess]

They have the media, they could keep BTC at bay, but they do not understand how disrupting it is. This tech robbing happens regularly when non-disruptive.

[Denker]

The same topic has been discussed many times over. The banks can utilize the blockchain, but since bitcoin poses competition to them, they seperate their interest
in blockchain tech away from bitcoin.
imho it doesn't matter, bitcoin is advancing slowly, and taking away their fees and profits, and it's just a matter of time when they won't be able to ignore it anymore.

cheers

Exactly. As soon as they have started cherishing blockchain technology only, it was a sign that they were starting to become afraid. Basically they are trying to separate the technology from Bitcoin itself.
They will try to upgrade and improve their systems so that they can keep up. The real question is, are people going to stay blind to their schemes?

That's right.They will be able to improve their internal systems.They will be able to trade stocks, bonds etc. without any third party.
They will be able to disintermediate the clearing houses and settlement systems that offer centralized control over transaction, security and equity clearing.This will be an enoumus reduce of costs and save them a lot of time.
But in how far will this have an positive effect for the customer?
I doubt that banks will reduce their fees that much.They are greedy and sneaky as hell!!
And what about the people in the world who don't have access to a bank?
Bitcoin still offers the main advantages and best solutions for all of that, especially in the long run when more and more Bitcoin companies innovate and offer their services.
Let's hope the people out there will realize that on day.

[Kakmakr]

This is what I think... When Satoshi wrote that six years ago, he never thought that he would need to hide, and basically abandon his creation. Now his Blockchain technology is going to be used against Bitcoin.

These bankers saw it as a threat, then they saw a loophole <Nobody can claim it's intellectual property rights> and now they are going to change it a little bit and use it to crush Bitcoin with the help from the governments. As soon as their newly developed blockchain technology is released, they would work with the governments to regulate Bitcoin use, and to make their technology the de facto technology. <Because it adheres to the governments regulations>  

[pedrog]

It's already happening, and with the amount of money that is being invested ion fintech, a lot of mew things will come to the banking industry in the coming years.

http://www.paym.co.uk/faqs

[Kaneki]

banks should not fear the innovation it should continue to update for progress in financial transactions.

[Ludi]

Banks are probably frightened of something they can't control or issue, but it's obvious they themselves can benefit from blockchain tech. I still think even forcing banks to rethink the way they do business or lower their fees is a good thing, though I still don't think they can compete with bitcoins low fees as that's where they make a lot of their money.

[BitCoinNutJob]

Bankers are thieves. I hope banking system will collapse soon and bitcoin will be number one of world currency.

[frank0929]

Banks are probably frightened of something they can't control or issue, but it's obvious they themselves can benefit from blockchain tech. I still think even forcing banks to rethink the way they do business or lower their fees is a good thing, though I still don't think they can compete with bitcoins low fees as that's where they make a lot of their money.

I think they can easily adapt Bitcoin in their payment systems. Banks are not doing their big money from sending money fees. They make big profit from interest. In fact money order fees are now "0" in most of the new banks.

[MF Doom]

they were scared briefly, I think.  They made some derogatory comments about btc, and Jamie Dimon was dead set against btc.

But now, being in league with the surveillance obsessed us gvt/nsa, they see that the blockchain technology can be used to further track people and their spending.

[ashour]

The banks will use the bitcoin technology for their own benefit, they don't care about bitcoin as a currency. They are more interested in the blockchain technology which would be useful or the banking industry.

[harrymmmm]

This is what I think... When Satoshi wrote that six years ago, he never thought that he would need to hide, and basically abandon his creation. Now his Blockchain technology is going to be used against Bitcoin.

These bankers saw it as a threat, then they saw a loophole <Nobody can claim it's intellectual property rights> and now they are going to change it a little bit and use it to crush Bitcoin with the help from the governments. As soon as their newly developed blockchain technology is released, they would work with the governments to regulate Bitcoin use, and to make their technology the de facto technology. <Because it adheres to the governments regulations>  

Omg.
Satoshi knew from the first that he would have to hide. It's no coincidence he chose a pseudonym.

The rest of your post has some credibility, but then again bitcoin was designed from the start to be immune. I'm sure bad PR, bankcoin alternative, etc. will guide many users to that, but it won't change the inevitable rise of bitcoin.

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

They are frightened, the fact they aren't pushing an agenda to completely ban it is the proof. Those using their own blockchains will end up bankrupt anyway since sooner or later people will realize how dumb that is when you got internet (bitcoin) vs intranet (banks blockchains).

[BTCBinary]

Banks are not affraid of bitcoin; instead they are trying to understand it and very soon will start to integrate it.

[gripflierGO]

The banks will use the bitcoin technology for their own benefit, they don't care about bitcoin as a currency. They are more interested in the blockchain technology which would be useful or the banking industry.

Yes banks will look into their own benefits rather than benefiting their customers, and that is the reason the banks are not coming in support of bitcoins, as they are very well aware that if bitcoins hit the mainstream than it would be difficult for them to survive in the market, and even if they get into blockchain technology it would not benefit the customers.