by mk

The report is big and slow to load, but read the part regarding digital currencies, starting on page 18.

An interesting bit:

Bitcoin advocates see a huge potential market, either because of Bitcoin’s role as an alternative asset or its disruptive role in the payments system. The opportunities are different and generate very different paths for Bitcoin. The essential innovation in Bitcoin is that it can eliminate the need for a ‘trusted intermediary’ when the principals in a transaction do not trust each other. There are many such transactions but money transfer/credit/debit card transactions stand out.

Conventional credit/debit card payers transacted about $15.5 trillion in 2013, and the major credit/debit/payments firms have a market cap of more than $300 billion. Bitcoin transactions have potential cost advantages over conventional payments and reduce the need for intermediation. The gap between conventional transactions cost and any Bitcoin fees for convenience and increased security will allow Bitcoin to make incursions into this market. For investors, the question is how much of this gap will be eroded by competition, with the majority benefit going to consumers.