Every big bank will consider crypto trading, says ex-Citi CEO

Cryptocurrencies are fast becoming mainstream, and it is only a matter of time before major banks start to consider crypto trading.

Vikram Pandit, the former CEO of Citi, believes that every major financial institution in the world will be considering cryptocurrency trading in a few years. Pandit said this during an interview at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

According to the former Citigroup CEO, every major bank in the world will consider buying and selling cryptocurrencies within one to three years. Cryptocurrencies have become some of the leading financial assets in the world and continue to gain adoption in various parts of the world.

The cryptocurrency market has grown to become a $3 trillion industry and is expected to record further growth over the coming years as more retail and institutional investors enter the space. Some of the major banks in the world, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JPMorgan, are involved in the crypto space in various degrees.

However, at the moment, most of the banks are allowing their clients to gain indirect exposure to Bitcoin via futures and others. None of the banks is currently involved directly in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Pandit left his role at Citigroup in 2012 and co-founded investment firm The Orogen Group four years later. He has been investing in cryptocurrency firms, including Coinbase Inc. and Alchemy Insights Inc.

The ex-Citi CEO also talked about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as they have been gaining traction globally. He said,

“My big hope is that central banks around the world understand the benefit of a central bank digital currency, and move on to accept, adopt them. Moving money around the world while trying to modernise a paper-based banking system is cumbersome and creates a lot of deadweight costs.”

Several central banks globally are already working on their CBDCs. They are either in the research phase or currently developing the central bank digital currencies.