YouHodlers Presents at EPFL and University of Lausanne

Yesterday, YouHodler’s CEO Ilya Volkov delivered a speech at the EPFL. The presentation covered blockchain technology and its current role in banking services. So here are a few key talking points from yesterday for the EPFL’s course on “Financial applications of blockchains and distributed ledgers.”

Many thanks to Jiahua Xu https://people.epfl.ch/jiahua.xu for the invitation! It was an honor.

Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology: then and now

When Bitcoin first arrived in 2009, many predicted it would one day kill the banking industry. Yet, a decade later, we see nothing like that and realistically it will not happen at all. Crypto and Blockchain eventually became just a great tool to make banking an efficient business again.

So in fact, the future of traditional banking will not experience what the taxi and hotel industries experienced after Uber and Airbnb, at least not because of crypto. As you’ll see below, here are the functions of blockchain and banking in coexistence: 

Role of Blockchain for banking:

• The reduction of transaction costs 
• The simplification of cross-border operations
• A new asset class
  

Smart bankers have already integrated DLT into all primary bank functions:

• Accepting deposits
• Providing loans
• Transferring of funds
• Foreign Exchange

In order to unlock all the benefits of crypto, we need to stop passive holding. Assets should be liquid in all aspects. We should use crypto! Pay with it, trade it, invest it, exchange it, etc.
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“Unbanking yourself” is a dead-end idea. Crypto should be properly integrated into traditional banking. We are not about replacing traditional finance and banking. We are about making efficient connections and filling in the gaps between traditional and modern finance. Life will be better if fiat and crypto work together!

YouHodler will be happy to continue collaboration with EPFL and UNIL and develop relations with the Blockchain Student Association.