Peter Smith, the CEO of the platform called Blockchain.com, said recently that in 2018 the cryptocurrencies will not only enter the corporate world of finance represented by the central banks, but they could also reach one billion dollars in valorization.
Smith thinks 2018 will be the first year in which central banks will start keeping digital cryptocurrencies on their balance sheets. The same way the central banks use gold and foreign-exchange reserves to counteract market turbulence, the rise of bitcoin could convert in an attractive alternative asset. Smith thinks this could instigate some central authorities to start buying bitcoin to keep it as an alternative reserve.
According to Smith, the next step of the central banks will be the emission of their own digital assets. Some central banks have already begun exploring the possibility of creating a cryptocurrency that would be used in the international trade. The trade alliance between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia was announced recently. The purpose of the alliance is to perform import-export transactions using a native cryptocurrency. Furthermore, the government of Venezuela has launched Petro, a cryptocurrency which will be supported by the natural resources of this South American country.
Eugene Etsebeth who worked in the South African central bank recently published an article saying that in 2018 the central banks from the G7 groups of countries will see how bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will convert into international currencies with the highest value.
