Speaking on CNBC’s Fast Money, Smith, who is the head of digital asset at Susquehanna International Group (a global trading and tech firm), went so far as to label Bitcoin the internet’s prime medium of exchange.
“If you want to own the asset that you can actually use today and that people are functionally using, it’s Bitcoin. The use case for Bitcoin is valid today, which is the currency of the internet.”
Giving an example of Bitcoin’s utility as a cross-border payments method, Smith pointed out that there are many people who are working in one country and sending their money back to another country. These people are forced to rely on methods such as traditional banks and Western Union, which can be slow, expensive and often riddled with complicated procedures, providing people with little to no control over their money once it enters the system (owing to the presence of banks, governments, and financial watchdogs). On the other hand:
“With Bitcoin, I can send money. It's fast. It's cheap. And frankly, no one can stop me.”
Commenting on the crypto hype that erupted late last year, propelling Bitcoin and its peers to dizzying heights, Smith said that while the boom in the market might have sent altcoin prices soaring, none of these tokens could compare to Bitcoin, owing to an alleged lack of functionality.
Speaking about the state of the market directly after the launch of Bitcoin futures late last year, Smith observed that “people got very excited about Bitcoin”. Consequently:
“They got really excited about all these other tokens and use cases. And all of the sudden you saw all of these smaller tokens, as people got excited about them, massively outperform. We got way ahead of ourselves. If you’re looking at these other use cases, smart contracts, or lightning network or these different technological advancements, I think people are coming to realize, those things are very difficult and aren’t coming anytime soon.”
Bitcoin, which reached an all-time high of around $20,000 during the crypto boom, has since receded, falling to as low as $6000 earlier this year after governments worldwide moved to tighten their grip on the unregulated cryptocurrency market. Currently, BTC is trading at around $6,400.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
