The Governor of the Bank of France and the CEO of Coinbase debated the sources of trust in currency at the Davos Forum.

PANews reported on January 21 that, according to Cointelegraph, the Governor of the Bank of France and the CEO of Coinbase debated the source of trust in currency at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Governor François Villeroy de Galhau emphasized that trust in currency must originate from regulated public institutions, not private crypto issuers, and that the independence of the central bank is the guarantee of trust.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded that Bitcoin, as a decentralized protocol, has no issuer and its independence surpasses that of central banks. He believes there should be "healthy competition" between Bitcoin and central banks, and that the public's right to choose will be the strongest accountability mechanism for fiscal deficits. While de Galhau has more trust in central banks, he acknowledges that currency has historically been a product of public-private partnerships and points out that tokenization can play a role within a regulatory framework. He emphasizes that regulation is a guarantee of trust in innovation, not an obstacle. He also clarified that the digital euro aims to modernize payments and maintain monetary sovereignty, not replace private financial institutions.