Central bankers are sceptical that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will supplant gold as a safe store of value but are upbeat on the prospects for official digital tokens as authorities grapple with how to respond to the crypto boom.
Almost 85 per cent of reserve managers say they do not expect cryptocurrencies to replace to the precious metal in their foreign currency reserves, according to an annual survey of UBS of 30 leading central banks.
More than a quarter of respondents said bitcoin and its peers had investment potential as uncorrelated assets that do not move in tandem with other markets, but 57 per cent of officials said they did not expect cryptocurrencies to have a meaningful impact on their reserve operations, according to UBS.