In what could probably be called the surprise of the century, financial services company Western Union says Bitcoin just isn’t quite ready for international money transfers — Western Union’s big business. A huge surprise, indeed.
It all went down at a Western Union conference that took place recently.
“We’re a long, long way from sending momma in Mexico $240 each month or a Somali family in a refugee camp $200 each month in bitcoin that is held in a wallet for conversion to local fiat currency and spending as needed,” said MSB Compliance president Jay Postma.
“The infrastructure and market for money transmitter operators (MTOs) to use BTC as transfer and settlement option is just not here yet.”
Postma may be correct, but Bitcoin is rapidly growing. It’s true that we are still in Bitcoin’s infancy, but for money transmitters like Western Union to rely on the fact that Bitcoin “isn’t ready,” will spell trouble in the long-run.
