Overstock CEO: This Ponzi Scheme Will Trigger Crypto Mass Adoption
The modern financial system is based on a huge "Keynesian, magic money tree Ponzi scheme" that will finally collapse to possibly trigger mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, according to the Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne. He says that the collapse will make many more people turn to cryptocurrencies and it is time to tell whether that will be Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency.
He was speaking to a cryptocurrency YouTuber, Naomi Brockwell, when he began referring to the government's receipt of loans from Federal Reserves, a private group with special powers to lend "fake money" to the government, in the form of treasury bonds etc. which are then paid back by taxpayers in real money. He, however, also said that know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements will be necessary tools to prevent criminals from thriving on blockchain technology.
He said while some people would use completely anonymous blockchain technology for a good purpose, criminals could exploit the system and given the need to be careful of developing a regulation that would steal people's freedom and privacy to use their finances as they wish, people should the ones to develop such a regulation.
Overstock was one of the major retailers in the world to accept Bitcoin back in 2014. His opinions are not far from what many people would think: that instability in the legacy financial system would eventually trigger a cryptocurrency revolution since people would be looking for an option.
Citing the case of China's ban on cryptocurrencies ICOs and other undertakings, he said in addition to security issues around the use of the blockchain, governments may fear seeing an entirely anonymous platform they do not have power over since it allows people to interact outside of legal social platforms. Therefore, in addition to the social challenges of using the blockchain where it is thought to be a complex technology for tech experts, there are also regulatory challenges to overcome. According to him, a country like Venezuela has proven how a cryptocurrency could work in practice in all of these respects.
