The question of why regulators around the world are so persistently resisting the adoption of private cryptocurrencies has once again become the center of discussion. This time, the head of a major Russian bank clearly stated his position, declaring that despite a positive attitude toward digital assets in general, decentralized coins pose a direct threat to the established financial system.
Speaking at one of the sessions of the Eastern Economic Forum, the banker explained that the root of the conflict lies in the sphere of control. Central banks and financial authorities build their policies on managing monetary aggregates and key interest rates. The existence of a parallel, unregulated market that does not obey these levers is automatically perceived as a challenge to their monopoly. This is an absolutely logical reaction — no one will voluntarily give up the tools for managing the economy.
Banks will not die, but they will adapt
Interestingly, the same speaker dispelled popular myths about the imminent demise of traditional banking. Two decades ago, during the Silicon Valley era, experts predicted that blockchain would completely displace banks. However, as practice has shown, these forecasts did not come true. Settlements still go through the banking system, and recently there has even been an increase in the share of cash. This suggests that technology by itself cannot destroy institutions if they are ready to evolve.
Strategy: not confrontation, but absorption
Instead of an outright ban, the largest players are choosing a wiser strategy — integration. Major banks are already preparing the technical infrastructure for cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency, counting on fierce competition for this market. The first clients will be miners and importers. The same logic can be seen in relation to large ruble stablecoins, which regulators prefer to pass over in silence, thereby protecting their own digital currency from competition.
This trend is global in nature. Abroad, financial institutions are also joining forces in alliances to create their own blockchain networks for stablecoins and tokenized deposits. At the same time, initial tests show that stablecoins have not yet demonstrated a convincing cost advantage over traditional channels.
My view: We are witnessing a classic process of co-opting a revolutionary technology. Banks cannot defeat crypto in an open field, so they seek to tame it and integrate it into their infrastructure. For the market, this means that the era of complete anarchy is ending, and it is being replaced by a regulated and institutionalized digital financial world, where bitcoin and its analogues will play the role assigned to them by centralized players.