The CEO of Russia’s largest banking conglomerate, Sberbank has questioned whether governments will embrace new decentralized models while giving blockchain around 3-5 years before it is mature enough to be ready for mass adoption.
Despite Herman Gref saying that the nascent blockchain technology is not developed enough for proper use yet, he has faith in the ability of the underlying ideology of the technology to usher in much-needed changes in both commerce and communities.
Local news outlet RIA Novosti quotes Gref, ”the philosophy embodied in [blockchain] could drastically change approaches in many areas. Improving this technology could bring huge value both to business and society.”
He gave blockchain between 3 and 5 years to reach a level of maturity where it will be ”ready” for industry implementation.
His comments correlate with a recent poll of executives who claim that implementing blockchain in enterprises has been ”harder than expected.” They cited scalability as a significant part of the challenge, with close to half of poll respondents struggling to process high volumes of transactions on the blockchain network quickly.
Decentralized currency
Gref said that as he sees it, governments on a global scale do not look likely to accept any decentralized model of currency, such as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, he believes that in around 10 years opinions might change in favor of a decentralized money supply, although even this he says in an ”optimistic” time frame.
The CEO called on governments to find a middle ground in regulating cryptocurrencies in a manner that could prevent illicit activities, but also not stifle innovation or kill cryptocurrencies altogether. Any ban on crypto usage could also damage the blockchain industry, he said.
Russia-based Sberbank as an institution has taken a positive stance in both blockchain and cryptocurrencies. In June, Sberbank took the central bank’s ”regulatory sandbox” as an opportunity to begin testing options for investors looking for opportunities in cryptocurrency.
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