Kristalina Georgieva, president of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said today that digital cryptocurrency is not a real currency, it is just an investment tool. Georgieva said: "We have to distinguish between currencies and assets. When it comes to cryptocurrency, it is actually an asset class. It can be backed up, in that sense, it is safer and less risky; but it can also be unbacked and therefore a riskier investment. It is not really a currency, but more like a money management fund."
Just last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just approved 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs and authorized these 11 ETFs to start trading last Thursday. This is an important milestone for the cryptocurrency industry. Over the past five years, the industry has experienced boom-to-bust turmoil.
Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas believes that the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF will attract trillions of dollars in funds that have previously been unable to obtain cryptocurrency assets and Bitcoin. Despite this, Georgieva does not believe that Bitcoin can rival the U.S. dollar in terms of status.
Georgieva said: "The dollar is the dollar. If there is such a day in the future, it is also in the distant future, and it does not make much sense to talk about it now. Why is the dollar the dominant currency today? It is because of the size of the economy and the depth of the capital market. So, personally, I am not in a rush to convert the dollar into another currency."