Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper has recently doubled down on his commitment to cryptocurrency – claiming that Bitcoin could be bigger than the internet itself.
At an April 21st debate hosted by Intelligence Squared US and the Manhattan Institute's Adam Smith Society in New York, the founder and managing director of venture capital firm DFJargued for the motion that “Bitcoin Is More Than a Bubble and Here to Stay” – claiming that the currency represents a financial revolution.
When asked how Bitcoin compared with his early investments in Tesla, Skype and Hotmail – CNBC’s report on the debate relates how Draper not only argued that it was “bigger than all of them combined,” but that:
“It's bigger than the Iron Age, the Renaissance. It's bigger than the Industrial Revolution. This affects the entire world and it's going to be affected in a faster and more prevalent way than you ever imagined,”
Adding:
“In five years you are going to try to go buy coffee with fiat currency and they are going to laugh at you because you're not using crypto.”
While Financial Times Managing Editor Gillian Tett argued against the motion – underscoring Bitcoin’s volatility and criminal uses, Draper insisted that he was more comfortable in his 30,000 Bitcoins than his “money in Wells Fargo,” and that Bitcoin has an “enormous” lead over the thousands of other coins due to its huge market share.
Arguing for the motion alongside Draper was Patrick Byrne – CEO and co-founder of the internet retail company Overstock.com – who echoed Draper’s confidence in the cryptocurrency’s security – pointing out that banks are equally susceptible to hacks.
Bullish Environment
Draper’s comments at the debate are the latest in a series of optimistic forecasts for the cryptocurrency with a number of prominent figures expecting soaring prices.
Recent comments such as Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead’s advice to buy BTC and Wall Street analyst Tom Lee’s bitcoin price target for March 2020 of $91,000 per coin have contributed to the Bullish atmosphere, while Draper himself expects the price to hit $250,000 by 2022.
