Anne Boden, CEO of Starling Bank, speaking at Web Summit 2019 in Lisbon, Portugal.<\/p>\n
Harry Murphy | Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images<\/p>\n
LONDON Anne Boden, the CEO of British fintech start-up Starling, is worried about cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n
Some digital currency exchanges are \"quite dangerous,\" Boden said, adding the finance industry should remain vigilant about fraud in the unregulated crypto market.<\/p>\n
It comes after Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, was banned from carrying out regulated activity in the U.K. by the country's financial services watchdog.<\/p>\n
\"The industry as a whole must really be alert to the dangers of people using bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to process fraudulent payments,\" Boden told reporters on a call Thursday.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2014, Starling is one of Britain's best-known challenger banks, a new breed of lenders aiming to shake up the market with online-only checking accounts. Rivals include Monzo, Revolut and Monese.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Starling reported a 600% jump in revenue in the 16 months ending 2021, helping the bank more than halve its losses.<\/p>\n
Starling is now on track to record its first annual profit in 2022, Boden said, adding the company may go public by late next year or early 2023.<\/p>\n
Despite her cautious stance on crypto, Boden said she believed there was a future for digital currencies.<\/p>\n
\"Certain digital currencies are interesting (but) our customers are not asking for that service,\" Boden said.<\/p>\n
\"In 2-3 years' time, things will have changed and most banks, including Starling, will be gearing up to do very interesting things in these areas,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Starling is closely following the Bank of England's research exploring whether to issue a digital version of the British pound, Boden said.<\/p>\n
The BOE is one of several global central banks exploring their own digital currencies. China is leading the way, trialing its digital yuan with millions of people.<\/p>\n
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Read this article: Anne Boden, CEO of Starling Bank, speaking at Web Summit 2019 in Lisbon, Portugal. Harry Murphy | Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images LONDON Anne Boden, the CEO of British fintech start-up Starling, is worried about cryptocurrencies Continue reading
\nBritish fintech boss sounds the alarm about 'dangers' of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies - CNBC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"