Bernhard Müller: Centi stablecoin is the missing link in mass adoption of Bitcoin

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Consumers don’t think of their finances in Bitcoin; they think in terms of euros, dollars, francs and other fiat currencies. If Bitcoin is to capture this mass consumer audience, it needs to offer the medium they are most used to. This is according to Bernhard Müller, CEO and founder of Centi when he announced the launch of the first stablecoin native to the Bitcoin SV ecosystem: the Centi stablecoin.

Stablecoins have become a critical component of the digital asset industry. In 2022, stablecoin volume reached $7.4 trillion, three times higher than Mastercard’s (NASDAQ: MA) annual volume. However, most stablecoins are marred by controversy, from USDC’s recent depegging to Tether’s endless problems to the UST collapse.

With Centi stablecoin, Müller wants to change the stablecoin industry, and he is doing it on the only blockchain network that scales unlimited, BSV.

The stablecoin is fully backed by a Swiss bank guarantee: this means that even if the issuer collapsed, every claim would be covered by a Swiss bank.

Stablecoins compete directly with credit cards, and as Müller told CoinGeek Backstage reporter Becky Liggero, a better solution to the ancient card system is long overdue. Most of the technology used by credit cards today is from the 60s, making them vulnerable to fraud and theft. Their fees are also quite high and in the case of VISA a 70% market share has given it monopoly power.

While the Centi stablecoin has a large market to serve, Müller observed that penetrating this market will be a challenge. A key strategy for the Swiss firm is to provide users with all the services they love, but now with a stablecoin option.

“All these checkouts you already know from e-commerce, all these processes you already know from the points of sale; we basically make it available. Our sellers don’t need to understand anything about the technology … we provide all the downstream services so they just get money in their bank accounts like they used to,” Müller told CoinGeek Backstage.

Stablecoins vs CBDCs

Centi stablecoin comes at a time when most central banks are exploring CBDCs. But according to Müller, stablecoins have a large market target that is likely to shy away from CBDCs out of concern for their financial privacy and freedom.

Already, several key leaders, from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to Senator Ted Cruz, have opposed CBDCs based on privacy concerns. In Europe, the Eurogroup (consisting of the region’s finance ministers) has demanded that the regional central bank address privacy concerns.

“We are convinced that we have a solution that is the closest you can get to building a CBDC without involving the government directly,” Müller said.

While it will provide its users with ultimate financial privacy and freedom, Centi will also comply with all applicable laws and will cooperate with the authorities if requested, Müller added.

“And for those concerned about privacy, tune in to Dr. Wright’s Bitcoin Masterclasses because he talks quite a bit about privacy in Bitcoin,” Becky said.

The Centi CEO encouraged the BSV community to build solutions that harness the power of a native stablecoin.

“If you want to build cool dApps, cool applications or business cases that need stable fiat support, please talk to us. You can build it yourself, you can use our API or libraries that already exist. We are interested in all kinds of use cases, more so the ones we don’t build ourselves, says Müller.

Bernhard Müller: Centi is for people who don’t care about Bitcoin

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