Paypal CTO Thinks Crypto Must Prove Itself First

While cryptocurrency has proved itself useful in many situations like remittances, it still has a long way to go before it can catch up to fiat, says Paypa’s Chief Technical Officer Sri Shivananda.

During the Economic Times Global Summit, Mr. Shivanada spoke onstage and talked about the advantage of cryptocurrencies but said many see them just as an asset play – traded and not used for value transactions (like legal tender currencies). He also said that viable use-cases for consumers must be built, stating that businesses must follow customers, and if consumers start to feel that there is leverage if they use crypto, then they will no doubt use it.

Mr. Shivanada also said the digitalization of all currencies will happen at some point, although it will require the participation of consumers, merchants, companies, regulators, and the government.

At the time this article is written, there are 5,170 cryptocurrencies listed on Coinmarketcap. Bitcoin dominates at 63.8% followed by Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, and Tether. Much of the coins have specific use cases, whether it is for an exchange of goods, or even as a token for a specific exchange.

Finally, on the topic of Paypal withdrawing from the Libra Association, Mr. Shivanada said that they support the idea of Libra to help the “under-served”. However, on Paypal’s viewpoint, Libra will not be able to do that in the short and medium-term.