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 (BTC) — explaining that building money using blockchain technology is “pretty odd” and he does not have much interest in the cryptocurrency because it is hard to understand.
The 72-year old billionaire blamed the decentralized character of Bitcoin, and said he was “raised in a world where someone needs to control currencies.”
Bitcoin only encourages criminal behavior
Schwarzman came out in support of centralization, arguing that global jurisdictions need 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 their responsibility to curb the proliferation of dirty money.
Warning that Bitcoin only encourages criminal behavior, Schwarzman said:
“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.”
Schwarzman, who has an estimated net worth of $17.7 billion, expressed support of blockchain technology nonetheless, adding:
“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 considers 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. 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.
However, he added that BTC will remain the currency of choice in the long-term because fiat currencies are subject to political influence and constant devaluation.