Imagine: Bill Gates Forbids Use of the Internet

Imagine that Microsoft’s employees are forbidden by Bill Gates to use the Internet. This is a suggestion by Christoffer De Geer, Vice President at BTCX, the first Swedish bitcoin company, reacting to Nordea Bitcoin ban.

“Year after year banks like Nordea have been seated comfortably in their own golden cage protected from the need to adapt thanks to regulations and barriers of entry. But now with bitcoin, the old rules does not apply anymore,” says Christoffer De Geer, Vice President at BTCX, the first Swedish bitcoin company.

In his article named “Why Nordea banning bitcoin will backfire”, De Geer further points out that nobody adopts this technology to themselves – it is usually quite the opposite. The internet, telephony and television broadcasting are the examples of his reasoning, and he believes that blockchain will be no different.

His argument is that “technology is just technology. There is nothing inherently good or evil in it. It is just what we make of it.” He makes comparisons with fictional examples that are technologically equivalent, such as “The CEO of the National Encyclopedia forbids its employees to read Wikipedia”. And when he puts it that way, it is incredibly easy to see his point: Nordea does not seem to be aware what sort of picture they are painting of themselves.

“Kodak, Nokia, Compaq and Blockbuster did not adapt to their adapting environment, will Nordea?”, he concludes. His view might seem grim and pessimistic, but it is also understandable: according to him, this technology is here to stay, and Nordea is losing out and not the other way around.

This comes after Reuters reported on Monday that the largest Nordic bank, Nordea, has banned all its cca. 31,000 employees from trading in, and learning about, cryptocurrencies due to perceived high risks.