Cryptocurrency will render some bank services irrelevant, says Blockchain Centre CEO

Cryptocurrencies are replacing some bank services, and the trend could increase over the coming years.

Tadas Maurukas, chief executive officer at Blockchain Centre, revealed in a recent interview that he believes cryptocurrencies will render some bank services irrelevant. 

The Blockchain Centre CEO said the blockchain space had experienced huge evolution over the past few years. He believes user experience is one of the aspects of blockchain that has improved. Maurukas said;

“User experience. The number of hoops you had to go through just to make your first transactions kind of made Blockchain look like a circus for most. Now, you’ve got companies building Layer 2 super localized solutions that are easy to use and good for a specific job. User Interfaces have advanced so much that first-time users don’t feel overwhelmed, and they’re able to explore the technology further. Instead of panicking every time, they interact with Blockchain tech.”

When asked if the bank industry should be worried about cryptocurrencies, Maurukas said yes. He added that;

“Yes, but probably not for the same reasons most people think they should. Are cryptocurrencies going to replace banks anytime soon? No. Are cryptocurrencies going to make some of the bank’s offered services irrelevant? Absolutely yes. Take saving accounts, for example, with an average of 0.06% interest rate, fewer people choose to save their money in banks because it just devalues slowly due to inflation. They would rather invest in stocks, real estate, precious metals, etc.”

The Blockchain Centre CEO added that he doesn’t think banks should offer crypto-related services to their customers. He said;

“I don’t think that would be beneficial for the users. In most cases, banks try to keep their customers “blind.” The less they know, the fewer questions they ask, the easier it is for banks to make a profit. Crypto-related services are the exact opposite – you must understand what you’re doing, how the different parts interact with each other, where the money is coming from and so on. Users are encouraged to be their own banks and make the hard decisions themselves. So, if banks offered crypto-related services, they wouldn’t encourage people to learn more – it would be a watered-down, basic experience.”

The DeFi space offers some of the services offered by traditional financial institutions, including lending and borrowing.