“Bitcoin solves gold’s problems,” says the world’s largest bank

A new report from the world’s largest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), has caught the attention of the cryptoasset industry.

“From the birth of Bitcoin to the development of Ethereum and the subsequent active exploration of official digital currencies by various central banks, market demand drives the continued spread of digital currencies,” the ICBC report says.

It specifies that the development vision varies with each asset on the market. However, he considers that all digital currencies strive to meet the same demand for financial inclusionsecurity and efficiency of payments in the digital age.

“Bitcoin preserves gold-like scarcity through mathematical consensus, while solving the problem of being difficult to divide, difficult to identify authenticity, and inconvenient to transport,” he highlights.

For ICBC, the monetary attributes of bitcoin (BTC) Are Gradually Weakening, While Their Asset Attributes Strengthen constantly. This can be attributed to the large increase in demand that the digital currency has had through indirect purchases, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

ICBC sees the future of Ethereum as “digital oil”

The giant bank has also been especially positive about Ethereum, cataloging its future as “digital oil.” “Ethereum has been continuously improving its technology in terms of security, scalability and sustainability, providing technical power for the digital future,” he says.

Unlike Bitcoin which was originally designed to be just a currency, Ethereum is Turing complete. This allows smart applications and contracts to be developed on the network.

He also mentions that the development of stablecoins provides a bridge for the digital currency market to connect with the real world. These cryptoassets are those that maintain the same price as fiat currencies, mainly the US dollar (USD).

In addition to this, ICBC gives a favorable opinion on central bank digital currencies (CBDC), despite criticism about their lack of self-custody and privacy. “They offer new possibilities to improve the efficiency of the payment system, reduce transaction costs and improve the effectiveness of monetary policy,” he comments on these.

In this way, the bank with the most assets under management (USD 6.3 trillion, according to its latest annual report) joins the trend of banking entities that show their optimistic view of the cryptocurrency market. Curiously, this occurs despite being from China, where a ban on transactions and sales of digital assets has been in effect since 2021.

“Chinese state banks continue to write love letters to Bitcoin and Ethereum,” commented Matthew Sigel, director of VanEck, a company that issues a BTC ETF.

Meanwhile, as reported by CriptoNoticias, bitcoin is trading 6% below its all-time high price of USD 73,700 recorded three months ago. This is in contrast to Ethereum’s cryptocurrency ether (ETH), which is 26% away from its record high of $4,900 reached three years ago. Although, its imminent ETFs could favor its performance.