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ECB’s Mario Draghi Rejects the Concept of Estcoins

 JP Buntinx  September 9, 2017  Crypto, News            Tweet Share10 +1 Share1 PinShares 11Not  long ago, we touched upon the concept of so-called Estcoins. The new  digital currency would complement Estonia’s e-residency project,  assuming the tokens were ever issued. If it were up to Mario Draghi of  the European Central Bank, that would never happen. In fact, he has  clearly stated that no member country can introduce its own currency at  will. This could be quite the problematic development for Estcoins. 

The Estcoins Project may Never Happen

The concept of Estcoins  makes a lot of sense. Issuing a national digital currency designed for  participants of the country’s e-residency program could introduce  exciting new opportunities in the future. The usefulness of such coins  would remain pretty limited, as they would not be traded across any  exchanges whatsoever. However, it seems this proposal has already been  met with a ton of opposition, which is not entirely unexpected. The  biggest force opposing Estcoins is ECB President Mario Draghi himself. In a recent press conference, Draghi  touched on the concept of Estcoins. The question came up during the  press conference, which Draghi seemingly expected to happen. In  answering the question, Draghi stated that  “no member state can introduce its own currency, as the currency of the  Eurozone is still the euro.” This comment leaves nothing to the  imagination whatsoever, as it indicates the entire concept of Estcoins  may be dead in the water already.  Considering Estonia has been a member  of the European Union since 2004, the country must abide by EU law.  That means it can legally only use the euro for payment. However, with  multiple countries experimenting with the concept of creating national  digital currencies, it seems that change is only a matter of time.  Estonia may have a competitive advantage in this area, thanks to its  advanced digital infrastructure. Additionally, the e-Residency program  has attracted a lot of positive attention as well.    Given Draghi’s recent statement, one  has to question whether or not Estcoins will ever happen. This degree of  institutional resistance is nothing new in the world of digital  currencies and cryptocurrencies, though. The European Central Bank in  particular has a habit of stifling such innovation whenever possible. It  is their goal to retain control over the monetary policy active in the  eurozone. Failure to do so would open the proverbial floodgates for  other currencies to quickly take over. This remark by Draghi could  effectively spell the end for Estcoins as a whole, although it is not  certain that will be the case. Estcoin may still go ahead as planned,  especially considering that many experts have declared the euro itself  will “die” sooner or later. Whether or not things will ever get to that  point remains to be seen, but it is certainly possible. The ECB may be  forced to introduce a blockchain-based euro at some point as well,  although those are still wild plans for now rather than a known fact. A national digital currency is always  a pretty complicated ordeal, to say the least. Considering how these  currencies could rival fiat currencies in one way or another, banks see  them as a big threat. However, concepts such as Estcoins are not  designed to rival the euro by any means. They are complementary  currencies only a few people will use for now. There is no reason to  oppose this degree of innovation whatsoever. It will be interesting to  see if the Estcoin project will be developed any further in the coming  months. 

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