Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau says “digital currency cannot be private, money is a public good of sovereignty”
Digital currency could be useful as cash transactions dwindle in some countries but central banks should be in charge of issuing it, not private companies, Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau said on Saturday.
Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau | Image via Handelsblatt
According to Reuters on January 25, central banks worldwide are looking into the possibility of issuing digital money to prevent the loss of state control over money, it was the result of the release of Facebook’s Libra project.
French central banker said the proposals were not a reaction to Facebook’s plan, responding instead to fast-evolving technology and some banks’ need for digital currency.
“In some northern European countries, notably Sweden and the Netherlands, the use of bank notes is falling extremely quickly and they are wondering whether we need to give citizens the right to digital money that is no longer a physical bank note but which has the same quality, notably the security of a central bank,” said Villeroy de Galhau, he added, “digital currency cannot be private, money is a public good of sovereignty”.
Villeroy de Galhau expanded on his statements by explaining that many European nations have seen cash usage decline, and that in Northern European nations such as Sweden and the Netherlands, a digital cash alternative is something that could be highly desirable, since cash is already in such low demand.
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