In an interview with the Financial Times, Vasant Prabhu, CFO of Visa Inc., has opined that Bitcoin is a bubble and has no intrinsic value. While such a statement no longer shocks cryptocurrency traders, the extent to which he has undermined the intelligence of the general public is disappointing.
Prabhu finds it bizarre when people from ordinary walks of life speaks about investment and stocks which are worth buying. The Visa executive said
“This is the ultimate thing that you hear about when you have a bubble, when the guy shining your shoes tells you what stock to buy.”
Prabhu further said
“The people asking me are the ones who scare the hell out of me,” he said. “You know, guys like the limo driver to the airport (…) They have no idea what they are doing.”
Prabhu believes that cryptocurrencies are mostly used for illegal activities. In particular, he has pointed his fingers on “dirty politicians.”
Prabhu feels that the cryptocurrency market is in a testing phase currently and it can be considered only as a speculative investment commodity than a mode of payment at this point in time.
He also questioned the anonymity surrounding cryptocurrencies. According to the Visa executive, it is safe to use a currency issued and backed by the Federal Reserve, rather than a cryptocurrency backed by none or unknown people.
Banks and other financial institutions jitter when they hear the words “cryptocurrencies” and “blockchain technology.” After decades of dominance, the banking sector is facing a technology that challenges the basic framework under which these institutions function. While some of the big financial institutions such as JP Morgan and Bank of America have acknowledged (in annual filing with the SEC) the tough competition they are likely to face from blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, many of them try to scare away investors by creating FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
Visa, which is very likely to face severe competition from cryptocurrencies, is already doing its best to discourage the use of cryptocurrencies. Notably, earlier this year, Visa withdrew support to debit cards which allow Bitcoin deposits.
