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- Steve Forbes predicts that Bitcoin and blockchain technology will overcome the obstacles that governments will put in place to prevent its mass adoption.
- Forbes considers Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to be a “high tech cry” for help in times of inflationary policies by central banks around the world.
In an interview for the Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, the president and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media talked about the future of Bitcoin and the blockchain technology. Forbes called cryptocurrencies a “high tech cry” for help, a way to shield against the instability created by the pandemic crisis and increased by the inflationary policies applied by central banks. These policies, according to Forbes, have made the situation worse:
We must see cryptocurrencies as a high tech cry for help against government instability by printing money today. What the blockchain does is provide the architecture for cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin’s big mistake
However, Forbes did not stop praising Bitcoin and the technology behind it. He also pointed out, contrary to his previous statements, that the mistake cryptocurrencies have made so far is the lack of stability. The chief editor of Forbes Media said the following:
You take a Bitcoin and one day it’s a steak and the next day it’s dog food. I wouldn’t dare make a long-term contract (based on this).
Forbes, on the other hand, noted that the greatest value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and XRP is that they allow values to be moved from one place to another at low cost. This is why they were introduced in places with failed economies such as Venezuela and Syria. Forbes said that cryptocurrencies will eventually achieve stability, but then encounter a new obstacle:
When that happens, governments will be angry because they will no longer be able to play with people’s money as they have in the past. People will have an alternative (…).
Another problem that Bitcoin will have to face, according to Forbes, is part of its original design. Forbes believes that Satoshi Nakamoto made a mistake by restricting the supply of Bitcoin in the belief that “this would create value”. In Forbes’ opinion, what creates value is the trust of users when they utilize Bitcoin as a means of payment:
When people want something, the supply goes up. Well Bitcoin artificially restricts the supply and creates a shortage of money. With functional money people need more and increased supply makes it easier to trade. Money doesn’t control trade, money makes it easier for people to sell and buy.
Forbes believes that if Bitcoin becomes too rare a commodity, it will ultimately be an obstacle to its use. However, Forbes believes that cryptocurrencies will maintain the stability that the US dollar lost when it was unlinked from gold. The key, according to the president of Forbes Media, is to make the technology and cryptocurrencies easier to use.
Below you can find the entire interview with Steve Forbes:
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