Tim Berners-Lee was talking to “Beyond The Valley” podcast, a CNBC production, last Friday when he shared his thoughts on the industry and how he felt about cryptocurrencies. He didn’t hesitate to highlight the high-risk profile of such assets – whether when considered as an investment or as part of the broader financial system.
Crypto Is Gambling and Dangerous, But Blockchain Makes Sense
Digital currencies are “only speculative,” Berners-Lee cautioned and said that the current build-up in the crypto industry was reminiscent of how investors inflated internet stocks in the 2000s when a dot-com bubble burst and wiped off a lot of value for a lot of people. This speculative nature, Berners-Lee further warned, was dangerous on many levels.
It’s basically the same as getting a kick out of gambling he explained, and added he would not consider spending his own funds into the sector. Berners-Lee did not condemn the entire crypto sector, however, and acknowledged that the blockchain as an accountancy system was a robust and solid solution that deserved more attention.
In fact, blockchain remittances would make it easier for the financial world to transfer money, reduce costs, and boost efficiencies, Bernes-Lee suggest. However, his scepticism on crypto is not entirely surprising, as he is hardly the only prominent person to have urged caution – at the very least – when approaching the crypto sector.
Charlie Munger, a known critic of the sector, took the opportunity last week to once again call gambling “stupid” and went even further, referring to it as “worthless shit.” Such vitriol is hardly justifiable, but it also refers to a huge split between crypto hawks and doves.
However, it’s equally important to keep track of crypto for what it can offer and address its dangers head-on rather than falling into a pre-determined way of thinking about the industry that is not based in fact.