Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff during U.S President Barack Obama’s term and the current mayor in Chicago, a city in the U.S state of Illinois, has acknowledged that virtual currency adoption is a matter of when not if.

While speaking during a FinTech meeting, the mayor cited countries like Venezuela and Iran which are facing financial sanctions but have turned to virtual currencies to maintain “global transactions.”

According to Emanuel, and as reported by Forbes:

City states are emerging, so the political structures we all grew up under are changing. One day, somebody’s going to figure out whether that’s Argentina, ten years from now, five years from now – how to use cryptocurrencies to stay alive when they’re facing a financial crisis, and then you’re going to find out that this moment has arrived.

During the meeting, even though the mayor was confident a virtual currency adoption was inevitable, he acknowledged that he does not have an inner understanding of virtual currencies but he was quick to note that the crypto “trend lines are affirmative.” Although he did not give a specific date when the virtual currency adoption will occur, Emanuel said digital currencies are “an alternative way to trade, and therefore, I gotta learn about it.”

The mayor is confident that Chicago has the potential of leading in FinTech innovations but he said that he would not confine these innovations to just virtual currencies “although it was the hottest space.”

He added:

There’s a lot of other things that go on in the financial or in FinTech that is necessary and has to be researched, and then has to be innovated, taking that research and set it up as a startup, but I see the hottest thing right now is in the space [crypto].

The mayor’s sentiments come at a time when Chicago is receiving increased attention from crypto-affiliated firms. For example, there has been an increase in the number of cryptocurrency ATMs in the city in the last few months. Coinbase is also among top crypto companies that have established a base in Chicago.

With governments across the world trying to control the crypto market through harsh regulations, do you agree with Emanuel that virtual currency adoption is bound to happen?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.