Central banks clash with Bitcoin advocates over public trust

The debate between central banks and Bitcoin resurfaced at the World Economic Forum in Davos during a panel on digital finance.

French central bank governor François Villeroy de Galhau said trust in money should come from regulated public institutions.

“I trust more independent central banks with a democratic mandate than private issuers of Bitcoin,”

François Villeroy de Galhau said.

Galhau argued that central bank independence provides the core guarantee of monetary trust.

Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong pushed back, saying trust should be decided by users rather than institutions.

“In the sense that central banks have independence, Bitcoin is even more independent,”

Brian Armstrong said.

“There’s no country or company or individual who controls it in the world,”

Brian Armstrong said.

Armstrong said Bitcoin and central banks should compete rather than replace each other.

“I think it’s a healthy competition because if people can decide which one they trust more, it’s the greatest accountability mechanism,”

Brian Armstrong said.

Galhau said money has historically existed as a public-private partnership and did not rule out tokenisation within regulation.

“Regulation is not the enemy of innovation, it is a guarantee of trust,”

François Villeroy de Galhau said.

He added that the digital euro is intended to modernise payments while preserving monetary sovereignty.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $89,996.38.