KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 25): The financial sector should stop worrying and instead start figuring out what to do about disruptions to the sector amid the rise of cryptocurrencies, decentralised finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse, said Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) group president and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Abdul Farid Alias.

During a panel discussion at MyFintech Week 2022 on Tuesday (Jan 25), he said he is interested in seeing how these new technologies would evolve and converge with the traditional finance sector.

"These will evolve into something that might cross [into the traditional finance sector] at some point. It will. It is both exciting and worrying at the same time. We need to stop worrying and figure out what to do — banks, regulators.

"These technologies will allow us to address issues like inequality so much better, but we need to make sure we don't get too excited. We need to understand what it is and what it isn't," Abdul Farid said during the discussion on digital banking.

South Africa-based TymeBank's CEO, Tauriq Keraan, who was also on the panel, echoed similar sentiments and said the disruptions could coexist with traditional finance and that everyone should be working together a lot more to address pressing issues such as inequality and poverty.