IMF’s cryptocurrency explainer video goes viral

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently posted a brief explainer video about cryptocurrency on its social media account. While the video has gone viral, it received mixed reactions from its viewers.

On Sunday, August 23, the IMF posted a video on Twitter explaining cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.com reported. In the two-minute clip, the IMF mentioned that cryptocurrency could “completely change the way we sell, buy, save, invest, and pay our bills” and even stated that digital currencies “could be the next step in the evolution of money.”

The video started by outlining some problems one might encounter when using traditional payment systems such as using a debit or credit card. “Problem number one - the companies often take a cut of the transaction,” the video said. “Two, we have to trust these companies to protect our sensitive data from hackers. Three, most international payments take a long time and are expensive.”

IMF then discussed how cryptocurrency might solve the issues. For instance, cryptocurrency payments remove the middleman. This makes crypto transfers a lot cheaper and faster than traditional methods. It’s also almost impossible to fool the system since the transaction is recorded across the entire network. The system also works for people who do not bank accounts.

The video also discussed some of the potential risks of using cryptocurrencies such as its potential use in illegal activities. “The transactions in most cryptocurrencies are anonymous,” the video explained. “This makes it easier for the bad guys to make payments without being noticed.”

There is also the risk of volatility and inadvertently losing crypto funds. “If you lose your password, you could lose all your money,” the video added. “At the moment, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile.” The video also noted that cryptos are currently not widely accepted.

IMF ended the clip on a positive note. “If we can counter the risks, then this new technology or some variation of it can completely change the way we sell, buy, save, invest, and pay our bills,” the video said. “And who knows, this could be the next step in the evolution of money.”

Some viewers praised the IMF for the video. “IMF learning fast. Global adoption is on the way,” one user tweeted. “They are finally understanding blockchain and cryptocurrency are not going away,” another one commented.

However, there were also those who criticized the video’s content. “They get so many things wrong, like calling private keys passwords,” a Reddit user called nanooverbtc said, according to Cointelegraph.

“They present volatility as entirely negative,” Reddit user teddy_t commented. “What about moon shots?”

Interestingly, others even think that the video might be hinting of the IMF’s future plans of launching its own token. One Twitter user commented that the video feels like a “prelude to their own crypto coin that will come out at some point fixing all the problems with crypto.”

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