The disruption of the financial system through crypto technology is in full swing. The high-ranking experts who discussed the opportunities and risks of the new technology at the Crypto Assets Conference at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management last week agreed on this point.

Their hopes for blockchain technology naturally depended on the perspective related to their role. For Jana Ringwald, senior public prosecutor in Frankfurt, who has earned a nationwide reputation as a Bitcoin hunter on the darknet, the risks that arise from gaps in regulation – and are used by criminals – naturally take centre stage. However she acknowledges that the big advantage of blockchain technology is that people cannot exert influence over it, and says that the benefits for financial stability outweigh the risks, even if the risks must be kept in mind.

Economist Maxi Günnewig, who won an award for his research paper „Smart Banks“, argued that smart contracts can optimise information management and thus improve trust in the financial system. In his work, the postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bonn investigated the extent to which this technology can reduce the risk of bank runs.

For Co-Pierre Georg, Professor of Practice in Digital Finance and Technology at Frankfurt School, it is fascinating that, after many decades, the question arises as to what contribution blockchain can make to reforming deposit protection. Addressing Ms Ringwald, he said that academia wanted to make a contribution to preventing the new applications from landing on her desk.

For Piero Cippolone, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, the most important question is what the new technology will be used for. „We are looking closely at the question of what happens, for example, when government bonds are conveyed via DLT,“ he said. Many banks are hoping to become more efficient as a result. At the same time, the technology would open up easier access to the capital markets for many companies. And market participants would also benefit: „It will be possible to trade around the clock", he said. The ECB itself has also been working intensively with blockchain technology and has begun experimenting with digital central bank money. These tests have been successful, and the banks are now building the necessary infrastructure.

When asked from the audience when the digital euro would be authorised, Cippolone said that the pressure on the ECB had recently increased considerably. He did not want to commit to a specific date. „But it's not a question of years, but of months,“ he added.

Georg, who heads the Blockchain Centre at Frankfurt School, concluded by emphasising that universities must provide the theoretical basis to ensure networking with banks and the regulator. „If we succeed in this, I'm not worried about Europe's competitiveness,“ he said.