Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire seems to think bitcoin will run its course in five to ten years.
Bitcoin is arguably the highest-performing cryptocurrency in today’s market. First released in 2008, the notion behind bitcoin was to bring financial independence to third world countries that were experiencing monetary instability or government suppression. Since then, bitcoin has made a valid name for itself, and is now accepted as a feasible method of payment with businesses ranging from Italian taxis to Overstock.
Yet despite all it’s accomplished, Allaire says he’d be really surprised if people are still using the digital currency by the time 2022 rolls around. As the CEO of a peer-to-peer payments company that utilizes bitcoin, his words were, to say the least, surprising to many. At a recent Finance Disrupted event in New York, Allaire boldly told Coin Journal:
“Our view is that we’re still in the really early stages of the technology and its development. It’s highly unlikely that any of us will be using Bitcoin in five or ten years. In the same way that – how many of us use NCSA Mosaic or Netscape Navigator?”
Allaire went on to say that bitcoin is likely doomed for two reasons: lack of regulations and, surprisingly, inconsistent use. Despite all we hear about activity in China and its ongoing acceptance rate, Allaire says when you really stop and look at how often bitcoin is used throughout the world, it’s nothing to get excited about. In the long run, fiat remains far more popular than bitcoin, and digital currency could phase out sooner rather than later.
The CEO also ripped on bitcoin competitors like Zcash, claiming it doesn’t have what it takes to be “adopted by the mainstream society:”
“It’s useful if you’re a gambler, tax evader… All these things, but if you actually want to do something that increases utility value for consumers [and] businesses [and is] sort of focused on increasing the productivity and efficiency of how the economic system works, that’s a different design center than how to basically avoid taxes and government oversight.”