Coinbase President Asiff Hirji: “Fiat is Not The Problem, It’s Underlying Framework Is”

Coinbase President, Asiff Hirji Says “Fiat is Not The Problem, It’s Underlying Framework Is”

At the recent Money 20/20 conference Katie Haun, who is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, along with Asiff Hirji, the President and COO of Coinbase, spoke about the potential of cryptocurrency and how it can possibly revamp all of our existing economic structures (for the betterment of mankind).

During the event Ms. Haun spoke extensively about the limitations of today’s banking system, especially when compared to cryptocurrencies. Katie brought out some key statistics such as there being 2 billion individuals who still did not have access to a bank account or identity documents. Expounding further on this subject, she added:

“So what they have are smartphones and what they can’t use really are dollars. If they could use dollars, they can’t get dollars when they need them. They don’t have a place to put them and so, cryptocurrency unleashes this totally new potential.”

In a similar vein, Hirji discussed the benefits of employing cryptocurrencies as well the use of blockchain technology within many different industrial sectors. Apart from the transparency benefits that blockchain offers, he also added that crypto based exchange platforms in general were more efficient than traditional financial systems.

According to Hirji:

“Unless we’re sitting across from each other where you could just hand it to me, for an individual to send fiat currency, it’s gonna cost them somewhere between one and three percent for something very simple.”

Lastly, Hirji further elucidated on this subject by saying that traditional payments and transactions have become so complex and expensive that the fiat currency system as a whole is no longer feasible for the average person. He then rounded off his talk by adding:

“There’s a reason why there are so many people who are unbanked and cannot get access to financial services.”

By the end of the event, both Asiff and Haun’s views were met with much appreciation by the crowd. Hirji then stated that one of the main goals of his company was to help foster the creation of an “open financial system” where everyone has access to basic monetary services (without having to pay exorbitant fees or peripheral charges).