Transferring value by assigning it to new owners in a ledger has been done for thousands of years. Bitcoin is new because for the first time this can be done without a trusted ledger keeper. Technologically a centralised ledger is much more efficient. Bitcoin can compete because no real life ledger keepers can actually be trusted. They are too vulnerable to coercion and corruption.

According to the Reuters article these people want to use the less efficient Bitcoin technology and have in centrally controlled by vulnerable organisations, combining the worst of both worlds.