High banking fees drive cryptocurrency

CHAIRMAN of Caribbean financial technology company Bitt, Peter George, says a driver of cryptocurrency is the “destruction” by the banking industry from high fees. He was the feature speaker yesterday at the weekly Rotary Club of Port of Spain at Goodwill Industries, Port of Spain.

He said because cryptocurrency is a limited supply and not controlled by a government, there has been a lot of disinformation and discomfort. “You all have to understand the destruction the banking industry has caused in regard to the high levels of fees and the high cost of accomplishing your financial goals. That is something that is currently the biggest driver of cryptocurrencies,” George said.

George said he had reached out to former head of the Economic Development Advisory Board Terrence Farrell and informed him if TT opens the country to blockchain (a digital ledger in which transactions made in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly) there could be huge foreign direct investments and huge employment.

“We have a lot of capacity that can be used for it.” He explained that blockchain could be used for voting, record keeping and land titling. George described cryptocurrencies as transformational as a “trust-less” system that does not depend on systems created by men. He said the Westernised systems were hopelessly riddled with corruption and government officials all over the world in free markets.

On the use of cryptocurrencies in the illicit trade, George said until it reaches one per cent of government-issued fiat money (currency that a government has declared to be legal tender, but is not backed by a physical commodity) then there was no point in discussing it. He added people may believe their money is safe because it is in government-issued fiat but it may not be as safe as they think.

George said, as far as he knew, his restaurant Trotters is the only local company accepting Bitcoin and have received about $40,000 worth though people have begun to hoard it. He also reported there was one individual selling Bitcoin locally for TT currency. “Love Bitcoin or hate it, this is where the future of money lies.”