*By Alisha Haridasani*
It’s only a matter of time before a country officially adopts a cryptocurrency as its standard, said Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat.
“It’s the logical next step,” he said in an interview with Cheddar on Thursday.
Crypto’s underlying decentralized blockchain technology will enable financial institutions and governments to conduct safer transactions, replacing the "Know Your Customers" process and ensuring compliance with global regulations around money laundering, Corbat explained.
But so far, the only test of a national crypto has run into problems. Venezuela became the first government to launch its own cryptocurrency, Petro, in March. The token’s value is pegged to oil and is widely seen as a [scam](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-03/crypto-rating-sites-are-already-calling-venezuela-s-petro-a-scam) as the country struggles to keep its economy afloat.
And Corbat's bullishness on digital tokens runs counter to many heavyweights in the business world.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett last month described Bitcoin as “rat poison, squared”, and his business partner, Charlie Munger, likened the currency to “turds.” Even Bill Gates, who usually backs emerging technologies, derided cryptocurrencies as one of the “crazier speculative” investments and said he would short it if that was possible.
Cryptocurrencies have been extremely volatile in recent months, particularly as the Securities and Exchange Commissions has intensified a crackdown on fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings (ICO).
Bitcoin peaked in December, trading at over $19,000. Today, it hovers around $6,000.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/citi-ceo-talks-why-wall-street-matters-trade-tensions-and-immigration).
Europeans upset with Elon Musk still aren’t buying his electric cars, adding to a long losing streak for his company.
Japanese officials have released AI-generated videos simulating a potential eruption of Mount Fuji.
Police have arrested seven people after they occupied an office at Microsoft's headquarters in Washington state.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
A group of book authors has reached a settlement with AI company Anthropic after suing for copyright infringement. A federal appeals court filing Tuesday said both sides have negotiated a proposed class settlement, with terms to be finalized next week. Anthropic declined to comment. A lawyer for the authors called it a "historic settlement." In June, a federal judge ruled that Anthropic didn't break the law by training its chatbot on copyrighted books. However, the company was still facing trial over acquiring those books from online "shadow libraries" of pirated copies.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says the company is discussing a potential new computer chip designed for China with the Trump administration.
The death of a French streamer during a 298-hour broadcast has sparked controversy and a judicial investigation.
Elon Musk’s X has reached a tentative settlement with former employees of the company then known as Twitter who’d sued for $500 million in severance pay.
Humanoid robots have showcased their talents at the opening ceremony of the first World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.
