Western Union has been a part of the United States landscape since 1851. From telegraphs to money transfers, Western Union has remained a successful brand and appears to adopt any latest form of technology. This is why many bitcoin enthusiasts are waiting for the announcement any day.
Western Union currently moves more than 100 different national currencies so the question remains: why hasn’t the company done it yet?
The company suggested it might do so in a recent interview on Bloomberg TV when Western Union CEO Hikmet Ersek said it “would consider using bitcoin” in the future, but only when “it is regulated like a currency.”
“That’s the issue with bitcoin. We are a very regulated industry. If bitcoin is regulated and the customer wants that, I mean, why not?” Ersek stated.
He added that bitcoin is an asset rather than a currency, but some are content that one of the biggest financial services companies in the U.S. has acknowledged the peer-to-peer decentralized digital currency.
“I am not sure bitcoin is a currency. Bitcoin is a system. It is not used as a currency, it is defined as an asset. When the reserve bank issues bitcoin and when it is regulated we would be more than happy.”
Although nothing is for certain, Ersek’s comments made waves in the bitcoin community and many bitcoiners immediately jumped to conclusions that Western Union wanted to wipe out its own company in favor of bitcoin.
Earlier this year, Ersek made comments in Fortune magazine that left the cryptocurrency market seething. He averred that bitcoin and other digital currencies are a method of payment for the first-world and doesn’t really serve the needs of consumers in underdeveloped countries. He further posited that consumers will still rely on cash, cards and bank accounts because of consumer protection measures taken by all of the interested parties.
Ersek did have one positive thing to write about bitcoin: there’s potential.
