Bitcoin
Blackstone CEO: Blockchain Is Good But ‘Odd’ for Creating Money
Billionaire businessman Steve Schwarzman likes blockchain but says that applying it to money creation is odd
Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, one of the world’s richest people, likes blockchain but thinks that applying it to money is odd.
“Someone needs to control currencies”
In a Fortune interview on Sept. 17, Schwarzman expressed his negative stance to Bitcoin, explaining that building money using blockchain technology is “pretty odd” and he does not have much interest in Bitcoin (BTC), claiming that it’s hard to understand.
In order to defend his position, the 72-year old billionaire blamed the decentralized character of the major cryptocurrency Bitcoin, citing the fact that he was “raised in a world where someone needs to control currencies.”
Bitcoin only encourages criminal behavior
Schwarzman further supported centralization, arguing that global jurisdictions are willing to control currencies for a reason. According to the businessman, governments want to “make sure the economy is as insulated as it can be from excesses.” Another aspect includes the government’s responsibility to control criminal behavior such as dirty and drug money.
Arguing that Bitcoin only encourages such bad behavior, Schwarzman delivered his verdict:
“I may be a limited thinker, but that’s a problem. If they could solve that problem and also the problem of controlling the money supply, then it might be OK.”
At the same time, Schwarzman, whose net worth is estimated to account for $17.7 billion at press time, has expressed support of blockchain technology, stating:
“Blockchain technology is a very good idea, and it will end up being adopted because it’s good technology. Applying it to the creation of money is sort of, for my taste, pretty odd.”
While Schwarzman is considering Bitcoin and the whole $266 billion crypto market to be “odd,” Anthony Pompliano, founder of crypto investment firm Morgan Creek Digital Assets, shared a different perspective today. He wrote:
“It is wild to think a loosely coordinated group of volunteers around the world have potentially built the next global reserve currency.”
Meanwhile, American venture capital investor Tim Draper recently cited Bitcoin’s complexity of use as the main impediment to mass adoption.
Still, in the longer term, people will have Bitcoin as the currency of choice because fiat currencies are subject to political influence and constant devaluation, Draper explained.
