Bitcoin

Blackstone CEO Subscribes to “Blockchain not Bitcoin” Narrative

The traditional investment world has largely found itself split on whether or not Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies constitute sounds investments, with some financial industry juggernauts seeing the merit of BTC, while other stand ardently against it.

Now, the CEO of the world’s largest alternative investment firm is sharing his thoughts on Bitcoin, deeming it as “pretty odd” while lauding blockchain technology as a “sound, very interesting technology.”

Blackstone CEO Sees Blockchain’s Merit, But Is Not a Fan of Bitcoin

During a recent interview with Fortune Magazine, the CEO of Blackstone – Steve Schwarzman – explained that the reason why he is not interested or enthusiastic about Bitcoin is because it is difficult for him to understand.

“I don’t have much interest in [bitcoin] because it’s hard for me to understand,” he said, further adding that BTC “encourages” bad behavior and that governments need to have control over currencies to try to thwart nefarious activities.

Despite Schwarzman’s lack of interest in Bitcoin, he is bullish on blockchain technology, and explained that he does believe it will ultimately be met with widespread adoption.

“That doesn’t mean that the blockchain technology applied to non-tradable currencies is not a good thing… There’s all kinds of uses you can have from certain executions. [Blockchain tech] is a very good idea, and it will end up being adopted,” he explained.

The “blockchain and not Bitcoin” narrative that Schwarzman is subscribing to is quite common currently, and likely stems from fears surrounding the decentralized aspects of cryptocurrencies that shift power away from centralized entities and towards individuals.

The release of cryptocurrencies associated with companies like Facebook have also perpetuated this narrative, as many individuals and government officials have expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of having a currency associated with one centralized company rather than a centralized government.

Schwarzman further added that he would one day be open to altering his views on cryptocurrency if there is ever a way to effectively reduce the criminal activity that is associated with them.

“If [crypto] could solve that [criminal activity] problem and also the problem of controlling the money supply, then it might be OK,” he said.

Although many people do associate criminal activity with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, this has widely been proven as a misconception, but until this image shifts it will likely continue to hamper widespread acceptance of Bitcoin and other cryptos.