Bitcoin Foundation cofounder: Crypto isn't in a bubble - 'bitcoin is the pin that's going to pop the bubble'
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LONDON - A senior bitcoin advocate has dismissed fears that the market is in a bubble, saying instead that bond and stock markets around the world are being artificially inflated by central banks.
Matonis, who spoke to Business Insider at the Innovate Finance conference in London earlier this month, believes we are entering the "post-legal tender age ... that isn't driven by central banks." Decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin will power this shift, he said.
"Hard coded into the original block zero genesis block of bitcoin was a headline from The Times of London saying: 'Chancellor on the brink of second bailout for banks,'" Matonis said. "All they're doing is papering over the bullshit infrastructure. That headline epitomizes what bitcoin is about, that's why it was hardcoded in there."Matonis was a currency trader for the Japanese bank Sumitomo and Visa before he helped set up the Bitcoin Foundation in 2012. The non-profit was created to help compensate the core developers of the bitcoin protocol. Matonis sat on the foundation's board from 2012 to 2014 and remains an executive director.
"They're going to develop futures markets, options markets, I even think you're going to start to see interest rate markets around bitcoin," he said. "We're used to hearing things about Libor, the index for bitcoin interest rates is Bibor."
Regulators around the world have been trying to come to grips with crypto and the UK recently set up a crypto "task force" to consider regulation of the space.
Matonis doesn't think crypto should be regulated."I think we should operate in an environment of caveat emptor, let the buyer do his research," he said. "This hopefully has forced a lot of investors to do more research. No one is forcing them to invest in ICOs [initial coin offerings]. If you're worried about the risk, just walk away."
He added: "The regulators are so confused, not just in Europe but in North America as well. They're used to fundraising models that involve selling debt or selling equity."
Matonis characterized bitcoin as a "third model for a startup to raise funds.""This is an entirely new model and it doesn't fit in any of the regulator's boxes."
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