Xapo Founder: Bitcoin Is An ‘Intellectual Experiment’, But It Can Still Succeed
When it comes to loyalty to crypto-related technology, a majority of innovators in this industry, many of which are diehard decentralists, would go to the ends of the Earth for their craft. However, in a recent Bloomberg interview, the founder of one of the crypto space’s foremost startups claimed that this innovation is nothing more than an “intellectual experiment,” throwing many industry players for a loop, so to speak.
Crypto And Bitcoin – A Complex Intellectual Experiment?
Wences Casares, the Palo Alto-based CEO of Xapo, recently sat down with Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker at JP Morgan’s Robinhood Investors Conference to discuss his outlook on crypto, tapping into his industry expertise to insightful comments to get the minds of viewers racing.
The prominent executive, starting off his interview with a bang, claimed that Bitcoin is nothing more than an “interesting intellectual experiment,” in spite of popular sentiment that BTC, along with other crypto assets, will usurp fiat currencies and subsequently, the global financial system. As the term “experiment” implies, Casares is essentially pointing out that Bitcoin, in all its decentralized glory, may fail miserably or succeed.
Diving into the sentiment that crypto is an “experiment” in-depth, the Xapo chief executive noted that it is still worthwhile to pay attention to this industry, even if the experiment’s results aren’t optimal or according to plan. He elaborated, stating:
“If it works, it could be quite relevant. And even if it doesn’t work, I think the [information that individuals learned] from crypto is quite important.”
The Bloomberg anchor, who was evidently caught off guard by this statement, went on to pick Casares’ brain on why the CEO believes that crypto could fail.
Casares, who forayed into crypto after experiencing Argentina’s tumultuous financial perils first-hand, noted that it would be irresponsible to “not acknowledge that it could not work,” adding that as it stands, Bitcoin’s chance of failure is “non-trivial.” The industry leader added that while the technology backing Bitcoin has been undoubtedly robust, when you boil crypto down, humans, like Satoshi Nakamoto himself, are fallible.
Not only could there be flaws in Bitcoin’s code base, but Casares also explained that in the future, there could be innovations that undermine certain aspects of blockchain networks, Bitcoin included, that makes ASIC machines nothing more than expensive paperweights.
Still, maintaining a positive attitude, the Argentinian technology entrepreneur acknowledged the fact that the odds are weighing in favor of Bitcoin, rather than against it.
Bitcoin Is Like The Internet In The 90s
Likening Bitcoin and the umbrella term of “crypto” to the Internet, as the commonly used analogy goes, Casares explained that this industry is still “in the equivalent of 1992 for the Internet.” And as such, he added that the term “crypto” is often over complicated and that “blockchain” is nothing more than the world’s first autonomous computer system, implying that innovators utilizing this technology are just revving up their motors and aren’t ready to start the race, so to speak.
Taking a forward-minded approach, the long-time crypto proponent went on to consider Bitcoin’s future prospects from an optimistic point of view. Explaining a world that saw Bitcoin win, Casares noted:
“A world that Bitcoin is successful is a world that Bitcoin has become two things — it’s a non-political global standard of value and it’s a non-political global standard of settlement… So just like we have a non-political standard of weight and length, we need a non-political standard of value and we don’t have that. So a world in which Bitcoin succeeds is one when you ask for the price of Turkish lira, you get a price in bits, when you ask for the price of oil, you get a price in bits, when as for the price of the U.S. dollar, you get a price in bits.”
Stepping away from industry norms and popular sentiment yet again, Casares closed off his guest appearance by pointing out that while Bitcoin won’t replace fiat, it can change how money is fundamentally used, handled, and issued.
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by Nick Chong on October 30, 2018 at 02:30PM