Bank executives in El Salvador believe banks can coexist with Bitcoin.
The perspective of banking managers on Bitcoin was discussed in the panel titled “The Impact of Bitcoin on Commercial Banks” of the conference called LaBitConf 2021 held in the country. It turned out that executives do not see Bitcoin as a danger and think that they can coexist. Leandro Guini, CEO of SERFINSA, which serves as a payment processor for banks in El Salvador, said:
“You have to understand that there are advantages on both sides, both in banking and Bitcoin. ”
The manager also described the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador as a “unique opportunity” in this regard and added:
“Adapting disruptive technologies like bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to traditional systems is the key challenge, we are building bridges between a new world [cryptoactive] and an already existing one, and you have its strengths [banks]. ”
Luis Rodrguez from Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), Carlos Ruge from DaviPlata and Francisco Montenegro from Open Bank Project also attended the conference. Rodrguez said that the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador is a good lesson. Emphasizing the importance of concrete steps, Rodrguez said that the Bitcoin Law is one of these concrete steps.
Although the participants positively evaluated the acceptance of Bitcoin as a currency, they underlined that two factors are critical. These were listed as the establishment of training and technical infrastructure on how cryptocurrencies work.
