ASTANA, July 4. /TASS/. Sberbank CEO Herman Gref thinks that crypto-currencies won’t replace traditional means of paying. Talking to reporters at the Astana Finance Days international conference Gref said he does not believe that cryptocurrencies will become an alternative to fiat money.

"Do I see a prospect of global use of cryptocurrencies as an alternative to fiat money? I don’t see it and I said it many times. I don’t think that the state is ready to yield its centralized role in emission of fiat currency to some other decentralized institutions," he said.

At the same time Sberbank CEO stressed that he has always been against restrictions in development of new technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Fiat currency is the currency the state declares as a paying medium. The state regulates its emission and nominal value.