Alex Batlin, Head of UBS FinTech Innovation Lab
Interview by Helmuth Fuchs
In the interview, Alex Batlin, Head of UBS FinTech Innovation Lab, addresses issues like
- the status of the development of a generic blockchain based currency with his UBS team
«We are not trying to create a new currency but to provide smarter means by which we can transfer ownership of money under certain condistions.»
«When adding extra layers of unique value propositions, decentralized blockchaines become exciting.»
- how cryptocurrencies will change the finance industry and the role of traditional banks
«In a hybrid approach you still have a single authority responsible for the money creation, but you don’t need a centralized ledgers or banks to keep that money save.»
«If you no longer need to worry about retail banking, what happens to wholesale lending?»
- who creates the money in the future and who decides on the amount created
«Bitcoins is based on gold and gold is almost finite, which makes bitcoin a deflationary curreny. A lot of governments have an inflationary policy.»
- UBS‘ goals for the future of currencies
«I think there is a space for censorship free, unregulated asset classes like bitcoin coexisting happily with more regulated asset classes.»
«We have seen what happens to companies that don’t react to change positively. They have ceased to exist.»
- applications he and his team are exploring beyond the cryptocurrency use of blockchain
«We are looking at blockchain as a cross multi asset capability. We did an early experiment we called smart bonds to issue a bond without any intermediaries.»
- the status of the legal and compliance matters regarding blockchain
«In the UK the regulators have been really good and created an almost special section for peer-to-peer lending.»
- the long-term validity and useability of digital code
«Open standards and the ability to export, import and share data are key.»
The interview was conducted in cooperation with «Silicon Valley meets Switzerland»
