Coinbase CEO: Bitcoin to surpass the dollar as reserve currency within 15 years

The CEO of the world's largest bitcoin wallet provider believes that bitcoin could replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency by 2030.

Brian Armstrong, the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, tweeted on 24 July that he thought "bitcoin could surpass the dollar as reserve currency within 10-15 years". Armstrong also revealed that Coinbase had a "rough plan" to make this happen.

Armstrong's comments come after reports that France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, is looking at ways to incorporate bitcoin into its currency funds.

BNP Paribas has already been doing "beta testing" with cryptocurrency, a source at the bank told IBTimes UK, and an announcement is expected to be made in the coming weeks.

One of the biggest barriers to bitcoin being used as a store of value has been its volatility, however Armstrong believes bitcoin will overcome this issue as adoption and trust grows.

"Volatility is a self-correcting problem, and we've seen that as it's dropped in the last three years, year-on-year," Armstrong told IBTimes UK in November 2014. "I foresee it continuing to do that over the next few years."

In contrast, the US dollar has seen its usefulness as a reserve currency decline in recent years, having taken over from the British pound sterling as the global anchor currency towards the end of World War II.

"We are seeing the beginnings of a change," said banking consultant Patrick Barron. "[The US Federal Reserve] has been inflating the dollar massively, reducing its purchasing power in relation to other commodities, causing many of the world's great trading nations to use other monies upon occasion."