Bernanke Backs 'Ripple' At Blockchain Conference: "The Tech Is Promising"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-16/bernanke-backs-ripple-blockchain-conference-tech-promisingTwo months ago we noted former Fed chief Ben Bernanke's apparent flip-flop since leaving office as he agreed to be the keynote speaker at a blockchain conference.
Having warned in 2015 of "serious problems" with bitcoin due to its "instability" and "anonymity"...
[Bitcoin]'s interesting from a technological point of view. We’re in a world where the payments system is evolving quickly and new approaches to managing payments are proliferating, and some of the ideas around bitcoin will no doubt be useful in doing that.
But I think bitcoin itself has some serious problems. The first is that it hasn’t shown to be a stable source of value. Its price has been highly volatile and it hasn’t yet established itself as a widely accepted transactions medium.
But the real serious problem that it has is it’s anonymity, which is a feature, and is also a bug, in that it has become in some cases a vehicle for illicit transactions, drug selling or terrorist financing or whatever. And you know, governments are not happy to let that activity happen, so I suspect that there will be oversight of transactions done in bitcoin or similar currencies and that will reduce the appeal.
But Bernanke told an audience at Ripple's Swell event in Toronto today that:
"...new technology like blockchain or electronic currencies can be used to improve" global payments, and added that Ripple's technology is "promising" as they work with regulators.