What’s the last thing you expect an entrepreneur from one of the most prominent multi billion-dollar banking families in the United States to say? Would it include bitcoin in any form?
Many would suggest the digital currency would be a banker’s worst nightmare, but Matthew Taylor Mellon II — presently the Chairman of the New York Republican Party’s Finance Committee — seems to be quite the fan.
In an interview with Forbes, the highly-successful business man suggested digital currency could be the future of democracy in some respects.
“I feel like citizens are fed up with banksters,” he told the Forbes reporter over lunch. “We need to live in a more transparent, free democracy. The more secretive America becomes, the more dangerous it is.”
The key to this transparent and free democracy, he says, involves bitcoin — which has grown significantly over the past eighteen months.
“The banks are going to be scratching their heads,” he added.
It’s not difficult to see why Mellon is so infatuated with bitcoin. In fact, he’s said to have invested $2 million in an incubator that allows bitcoin-related companies to start up and flourish. That incubator is called CoinApex.
“Matthew is the kind of guy who’s very smart about attracting very talented people to help him figure it out,” said J. Todd Morley, a friend of Mellon’s and founder of Guggenheim Partners. “I know he’s been studying Bitcoin and talking to senior people in the industry.”
It’s certainly an interesting story, and one that is becoming increasingly common as those in the banking industry recognize the promise of this digital currency.
Moreover, there’s no shortage of interesting developments that are taking place with regard to start-ups in the space, which acts as an attractive opportunity for the wealthy investor.
You may very well hear a lot more of this type of optimism in the coming months.
