Cryptocurrency was invented during the 2008-2009 financial crisis to provide an alternative to banks.Bitcoin inventor who operated under a pseudonym satoshi nakamotoenvisioned a financial system that would not depend on a “trusted third party”, which was said to be unreliable in the first place. Instead, it uses cryptography and a distributed ledger called blockchain to record transactions and provide irrefutable proof of ownership. Cryptocurrency evangelists say this will democratize finance and reduce the cost of holding and using money.
Banks have derided cryptocurrencies as a cypherpunk's pipe dream. But more than 15 years later, many Wall Street banks and other financial institutions are not only getting into the crypto business (see ETFs, Bitcoin), but are also starting to adopt the underlying blockchain technology. Banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are experimenting with or already offering private blockchain services, but the concept seems contradictory to many crypto enthusiasts. It will be done. Banks are attracted to blockchain technology, which allows them to “tokenize” traditional assets such as stocks and Treasury bills, making them faster and cheaper to trade. Critics say that just as financial firms have turned low-cost, hassle-free exchange-traded funds into healthy businesses, banks should not only adopt this technology, but leverage it to generate fees. He points out that
