In a digitally inclined world, adapting to technological advances such as cryptocurrency is a dividing opinion in many countries.
One of Australia’s major four banks recently announced that it plans to use its banking application to allow its customers to trade, buy or sell cryptocurrency.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the first bank to embrace the digital currency on its platform, in a bid to reimagine banking.
This move is a result of customers expressing concern regarding some of the crypto services in the market today, including the friction of using third party exchanges, the risk of fraud and the lack of trust in newer providers.
Users will be able to hold, buy and sell cryptocurrencies through the application during the test run of 2000 customers. This selection of cryptocurrency will initially include 10 of the most popular coins, including bitcoin. Users will not be able to do transfers of cryptocurrencies to other people, as all transactions will involve either buying or selling the coins for real money.
This is because cryptocurrency transfers are difficult to track, making them attractive to criminals and difficult for the bank when it comes to complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws.
Technology is leading towards a revolution in how we think about money. It could be very interesting to see how other central banks get themselves involved in the potential process.
