The CEO of Galaxy Digital is optimistic about the continued use of bitcoin as a hedge against deteriorating fiscal stewardship.
At the Barclays Crypto and Blockchain Summit held online March 29 – 30th, 2022, the CEOs of two of the most successful blockchain-based firms expressed contrasting opinions on Bitcoin being digital gold. While an overall sentiment expressed by CEO of Bakkt Gavin Michael leaned towards the narrative hindering the crypto industry, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, instead considers it to be the best time for the transition.
Bakkt and Galaxy Digital CEOs’ Views on Bitcoin Use and Acceleration
According to Michael, the largest cryptocurrency bitcoin was meant to be peer-to-peer electronic cash and it wasn’t designed to be a gold replacement. He believes bitcoin to be able to do a lot more things than being just digital gold. To authenticate his statements with facts, Michael also spoke about El Salvador making bitcoin a legal currency and Twitter’s recent act of enabling micropayments through crypto. These changes according to Michael point toward Bitcoin’s original vision of being a peer-to-peer electronic payment system. The CEO of Galaxy Digital is optimistic about the continued use of bitcoin as a hedge against deteriorating fiscal stewardship. Citing the recent instances of traditional finance systems collapsing in Turkey and Russia, Novogratz emphasized the accelerated use of bitcoin by everyone everywhere and this is why he feels it is ready for prime time.
Present Condition
If we look at the research report released by Bank of America last week, bitcoin has been performing more like a risk asset and not as an inflation hedge. The same report’s authors stated how there is zero correlation between gold and bitcoin since the month of June. In an article published by ETF Stream, it is mentioned how in the present condition, investors are looking toward bitcoin as a means to store value. The same write-up references a research note from Robeco to highlight the historical angle that is missing with respect to Bitcoin as against gold. Although both assets come with similar features like scarcity, durability, high portability, etc., what the cryptocurrency misses is the historical perception of gold being a store of value. The article discusses at length and gives great insights into the bitcoin vs gold competition.
About the Barclays Crypto & Blockchain Summit
The Barclays Crypto & Blockchain Summit is an annual event that aims to offer Barclays’ institutional clients insights concerning the blockchain industry and the several developments within its ecosystem. The 2022 event centered around topics such as decentralized finance (DeFi), smart contract economy, accelerated institutional blockchain adoption, etc.
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