Note from the Publisher:  We know quite a few people involved in VC and publishing endeavors within the bitcoin and crypto-currency space, and we're not sure they would agree with this assessment from CITI.  Within the digital currency community, there is an underying belief that government-controlled fiat currencies are ultimately destined to fail and crypto-currencies will entirely disrupt the existing banking industry, at least amongst the more fatalistic of that crew.  On a cheerier note though, this synopsis of a CITI study on bitcoin makes for an informative read. 

"So-called cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are unlikely to have an adverse impact on the banking industry, as least as far as payments are concerned. That’s the conclusion of a 56-page Citi Research report on US digital banking.

'We do not view cryptocurrencies as a disruptive threat to the banks or card networks (Visa/MasterCard),' write Citi analyst Keith Horowitz and his colleagues, adding that they don’t see it as a threat to money transfer operators such as Western Union either.

'Cryptocurrencies’ potential impact will likely be more from their ability to open up new markets and reach new customers,' Citi argues."

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