Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) do not pose a threat to cryptocurrencies and would actually help build trust among sceptics by validating the underlying blockchain technology.
This is the view of Changpeng Zhao, chief executive of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, who was addressing a press conference at the Web Summit conference in London.
"Is it (CBDC) a threat to Binance or other crypto-currencies? I don’t think so. I very much think that the more we have, the better," he said.
"It will validate the blockchain concept, so that anybody who still has concerns about the technology, will say: 'OK, our government is using the technology now'," added Zhao, in comments reported by Reuters..
All the major central banks have explored the idea of establishing their own digital currency, as has the Bank for International Settlements, often described as the central bank of central banks.
And in August, the European Central Bank suggested that CBDCs could be the holy grail for cross-border payments.
Zhao also stated that there is a fundamental difference between cryptocurrencies and CBDCs in terms of inflation and the correlation to financial markets.
Zhao maintained that native crypto remains a deflationary asset, although he conceded that both equities and cryptoi had undergone a similalry sharp marekt correction on the back of interest rate rises because the same people that buy stocks also buy equities.