‘In Crypto We Trust’: Circle CEO Pumps Blockchain at IMF Meeting

[Lmaooo]

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire touted the benefits of cryptocurrency at Wednesday's IMF meeting. | Source: World Economic Forum/YouTube

There is little doubt that digital payments tools – including bitcoin and other cryptocurrency projects – are transforming the way consumers make transactions. However, even the best digital technologies will fail if users don’t trust them.

This was the resounding message at the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

Lagarde: Consumers Are Dumping Their Cash

Called “Money and Payments in the Digital Age,” one discussion included representatives from central banks and tech startups. Panelists shared their thoughts about how the economy was being reshaped by cryptocurrency and other digital technologies.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde noted that cash usage is on the decline in countries around the world. For example, in Sweden a mere 13% of transactions were settled in cash last year, she said.

Consumers increasingly use their smartphones to make purchases with digital payment platforms, even if bitcoin hasn’t quite caught on as a payment instrument.

CCN | https://www.ccn.com/in-crypto-we-trust-circle-ceo-pumps-blockchain-at-imf-meeting

[LeGaulois]

If someone is interested to watch this IMF meeting, it's an interesting one https://meetings.imf.org/en/2019/Spring/Schedule/2019/04/10/imf-seminar-money-and-payments-in-the-digital-age?cid=sm-com-tw-DigitalPayments

“Banks will have to adopt to survive, or disappear.”
I agree with her and the trend is "digital" she admits it... Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fit exactly in this trend of a digitalized economy and she should start to realize and admit that.

[exstasie]

Digital payments doesn't mean Bitcoin payments. We're obviously heading towards less and less cash-based transactions in commerce but whether Bitcoin (or any other crypto) catches on among consumers and businesses is still an open question. The issue for consumers doesn't seem to have much to do with fiat money at all, just convenience (digital vs paper or plastic). And everyone can acknowledge that Bitcoin represents a tiny drop in the ocean of the payments industry.

[el kaka22]

It is just another news that showboats how amazing crypto and bitcoin is (blockchain as well of course) in improving our system but not the way we want to. They are focusing on how strong the technology behind it is and how they could make transactions much faster much reliable and a lot cheaper, this is not what we focus on.

If a bank starts to deal with blockchain tomorrow and do all their transactions in bitcoin or whatever coin they want and make a lot more profits thanks to the savings they had from moving from old system to blockhain that would somehow affect us ? No, that would only increase the bonuses of the CEO's and that is it, we wouldn't see any benefits from it, banking is a system where it needs to keep the profits high at all times and we need to break that cycle with bitcoin, not help them, destroy them.

[LeGaulois]

Digital payments doesn't mean Bitcoin payments.

How? By "digital payments" it refers to everything allowing its user to make payments. It does not matter whether it is a bank, a neobank, application, token, infrastructure, network, etc...
Why wouldn't Bitcoin fall into this category? that's exactly where it belongs. You're not going to classify it with the state welfare guidelines, are you?

[dothebeats]

Ahh, the future of e-Commerce and digital payments: not necessarily bitcoins and cryptocurrencies but perhaps bitcoins and cryptocurrencies. The CEO doesn't specify which type of digital payment is he referring to, and so that hardly made any statement, if anything, on the IMF meeting. For sure, many people like Jeremy are wanting to ditch the paper in order to further their interests in the digital payments space, and in order to do that, they need to convince the IMF and other figures that the blockchain is the real deal. Nothing new here, just an investor presenting his presentation to the board of regents in order to convince them that it is the way to go. This would not affect bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies in any way (at least for now.)

[exstasie]

Digital payments doesn't mean Bitcoin payments.

How? By "digital payments" it refers to everything allowing its user to make payments. It does not matter whether it is a bank, a neobank, application, token, infrastructure, network, etc...
Why wouldn't Bitcoin fall into this category?

Nobody said Bitcoin isn't a form of digital payment. But "cashless" or "digital payments" does not automatically mean "Bitcoin or cryptocurrency." It's the "every rectangle is not a square" problem.

The author of this article obnoxiously tries to throw in phrases like "including bitcoin and other cryptocurrency projects" to make it seem like that's what the meeting was about. Allaire was the only person mentioned who talked about decentralized crypto. The article frames things as if Lagarde is talking about Bitcoin when she's referring to cashless payments. It just feels like the author is reaching really hard, trying to conflate cryptocurrency with the entire umbrella of digital payment platforms.

[Carlton Banks]

This stinks of an attempt to re-define what "decentralised" or "cryptocurrrency" actually means, there is no chance that the IMF would let this guy speak on their platform if he in any way represented a threat to the IMF's position as a monetary authority.

Let's not forget that Allaire and his company quit Bitcoin in 2015 when their attempts to assert influence over Bitcoin development failed. Let's not forget that the only reason Allaire and Circle failed was because people running Bitcoin Core refused to switch to the (long since dead) Bitcoin XT software.

[Wind_FURY]

This stinks of an attempt to re-define what "decentralised" or "cryptocurrrency" actually means, there is no chance that the IMF would let this guy speak on their platform if he in any way represented a threat to the IMF's position as a monetary authority.

Let's not forget that Allaire and his company quit Bitcoin in 2015 when their attempts to assert influence over Bitcoin development failed. Let's not forget that the only reason Allaire and Circle failed was because people running Bitcoin Core refused to switch to the (long since dead) Bitcoin XT software.

Plus didn't Circle support undermining Bitcoin by being one of the signatories of the New York Agreement? Haha.

Newbies, don't trust Jeremy Allaire, he's anti-Bitcoin. Although, I believe "they" have already learned their lesson after UASF/NO2X.

[Carlton Banks]

didn't Circle support undermining Bitcoin by being one of the signatories of the New York Agreement? Haha.

not sure. My recollection is that Circle quit Bitcoin altogether long before the whole S2X thing started up (presumably in part a PR move trying to mend their poor reputation in Bitcoin).


Circle was always a presumed financial industry front, they were stuffed full with former Goldman Sachs employees (and the Bitcoin XT devs famously went to go and work for.... Circle). Allaire is a former banking industry employee.

[omonuyak]

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire touted the benefits of cryptocurrency at Wednesday's IMF meeting. | Source: World Economic Forum/YouTube

There is little doubt that digital payments tools – including bitcoin and other cryptocurrency projects – are transforming the way consumers make transactions. However, even the best digital technologies will fail if users don’t trust them.

This was the resounding message at the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

Lagarde: Consumers Are Dumping Their Cash

Called “Money and Payments in the Digital Age,” one discussion included representatives from central banks and tech startups. Panelists shared their thoughts about how the economy was being reshaped by cryptocurrency and other digital technologies.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde noted that cash usage is on the decline in countries around the world. For example, in Sweden a mere 13% of transactions were settled in cash last year, she said.

Consumers increasingly use their smartphones to make purchases with digital payment platforms, even if bitcoin hasn’t quite caught on as a payment instrument.

CCN | https://www.ccn.com/in-crypto-we-trust-circle-ceo-pumps-blockchain-at-imf-meeting

That is great and I am really in support of this. Time is coming when IMF itself are going to adopt cryptocurrencies and approved the use of cryptocurrency in most of our financial system and industrial system.  We cannot but said that Cryptocoins is the money of future.

[Wind_FURY]

didn't Circle support undermining Bitcoin by being one of the signatories of the New York Agreement? Haha.

not sure. My recollection is that Circle quit Bitcoin altogether long before the whole S2X thing started up (presumably in part a PR move trying to mend their poor reputation in Bitcoin).

They did, https://99bitcoins.com/who-supports-segwit2x-the-new-york-agreement-and-the-upcoming-bitcoin-fork-explained/

It's strange that Circle supported a fork that would undermine Bitcoin, when they already quit Bitcoin. Maybe they want a Bitcoin that they could control, and kick out the Core developers.

Circle was always a presumed financial industry front, they were stuffed full with former Goldman Sachs employees (and the Bitcoin XT devs famously went to go and work for.... Circle). Allaire is a former banking industry employee.

Who?

[franky1]

windfury you already know the social drama

DCG.co (barry silbert) headed up NYA,
DCG.co who owns blockstream, bloq, coinbase, circle. btcc and many others who wanted and needed segwit. they knew they needed to sway people to accept segwit, so they done the false promise of x2 IF  segwit(x1) activates first.

the dcg.co was the false choice pretense of offering x2.. but the reality was just to get segwit1x activated.

after all the blockstream crew already had code ready to knock out the x2 as soon as x1 activated

[Wind_FURY]

windfury you already know the social drama

The misinformation that you spread, and tell everyone is the truth? Sorry, I have my tinfoil hat on. Try the newbies.

I hope they will believe you.

DCG.co (barry silbert) headed up NYA,
DCG.co who owns blockstream, bloq, coinbase, circle. btcc and many others who wanted and needed segwit. they knew they needed to sway people to accept segwit, so they done the false promise of x2 IF  segwit(x1) activates first.

the dcg.co was the false choice pretense of offering x2.. but the reality was just to get segwit1x activated.

after all the blockstream crew already had code ready to knock out the x2 as soon as x1 activated

Tell it how you want. Newbies, believe him.

[franky1]

ok you continue in your echo chamber..

how about research next time
if you want to learn

here is DCG.co with their NYA
https://medium.com/@DCGco/bitcoin-scaling-agreement-at-consensus-2017-133521fe9a77

'    Activate Segregated Witness at an 80% threshold, signaling at bit 4
    Activate a 2 MB hard fork within six months'

6 month gap where its plenty of time to activate 1x as a hardfork but strangely not implementing the 2x as a single event.. but for months later allowing plenty of time to back out

because dcg.co (blockstream(main core dev) investors) knew core would kick out 2x
even your buddies doomad,gmax, achowe cant deny that (disconnect servicebit 6 and 8 )

the NYA agreement was never about getting segwit2x. it was just a carrot and stick to get 1x active

oh and because you love the social drama and want to stay within one group. you might aswell try to get into DCG as they are offering a gateway into thier group of companies.
but here is a tip, dont bother applying for a technical position, you seem to lack them skills. maybe aim for the social media marketing side.

atleast your echo chamber will then be your paid colleagues and you wont have to try fighting as much to prove your allegiance to their cause

[Kevin77]

I guess we are talking about the CEO of "circle" which is a purely crypto company, so even though its great that he had speaking time on IMF meeting which is great we can safely assume that he was literally called there to talk about the good things on crypto.

Nobody really expected him to go up there and say crypto sucks or something, everyone knew he would say amazing things about crypto even when he was called to speak there and everyone in the audience knew what he was going to say about crypto. That is the reason I think him being called on stage to speak is a bigger news than what he has said, we knew what he was gonna say but crypto getting big enough to get speaking time at IMF is much bigger news and shows how big we have gotten over the years if you ask me.

[Carlton Banks]

That is the reason I think him being called on stage to speak is a bigger news than what he has said, we knew what he was gonna say but crypto getting big enough to get speaking time at IMF is much bigger news and shows how big we have gotten over the years if you ask me.

neither he nor Circle have ever contributed anything to the cryptocurrency industry, zero

[YuginKadoya]

This will surely bring us to a new age of cryptocurrency if banks will surely adopt it because they will surely have no choice but to do it, or they will get behind with adopting cryptocurrency if the price will rise with a further all-time high, I really think that Jeremy Allaire is right with his intuition for the future of bitcoin and all the benefits that we need in it is not truly shown for now but I guess the true worth of Bitcoin is in its future that if banks would certainly see its worth they will understand.

[serjent05]

It is just another news that showboats how amazing crypto and bitcoin is (blockchain as well of course) in improving our system but not the way we want to. They are focusing on how strong the technology behind it is and how they could make transactions much faster much reliable and a lot cheaper, this is not what we focus on.

If a bank starts to deal with blockchain tomorrow and do all their transactions in bitcoin or whatever coin they want and make a lot more profits thanks to the savings they had from moving from old system to blockhain that would somehow affect us ? No, that would only increase the bonuses of the CEO's and that is it, we wouldn't see any benefits from it, banking is a system where it needs to keep the profits high at all times and we need to break that cycle with bitcoin, not help them, destroy them.

But banks have clever ways to divert those destructive things into their advantage.  As many businessman say, there is always a profit in times of chaos.  And we cannot control them in taking advantage of these technolgy given by Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.  As the saying said, if you can not beat them, join them.  And this is what the banks and other centralized institution is doing now but of course with some modification that will guarantee their advantages, so we have no other option but to accept that fact.

[muslol67]

To me, the bad thing is that only those who have interests in this market speak positively about this, while others are abstaining.

But cryptocurrencies can really offer many different opportunities for the world and the solution on the current problems of the economy. It would be good if we put some weight on those opportunities beside self-interset.