Crypto poses a threat to the safety of global payment systems

Crypto poses a threat to the safety of global payment systems
  • Cryptocurrencies are a “threat to the safety of our payment schemes,” Anne Boden, CEO of U.K. digital bank Starling, warned Tuesday.
  • Regulators are concerned about the financial system becoming more entwined with the volatile world of crypto.
  • Roughly $400 billion has been erased from the combined value of all cryptocurrencies in the past month.

The boss of Goldman Sachs-backed digital bank Starling has doubled down on criticisms of crypto, calling digital currencies a threat to the safety of payment infrastructure.

“It is very dangerous,” Anne Boden, who founded Starling in 2014, warned Tuesday at the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam. Based in Britain, Starling offers fee-free checking accounts and loans through an app. The firm was last privately valued at £2.5 billion ($3.1 billion) and counts the likes of Goldman and Fidelity as investors.

“A lot of [crypto] wallets are being connected directly to payment schemes,” Boden said. “This is a threat to the safety of our payment schemes around the world.”

Read more