Bitcoin is providing the world with the opportunity to use private money that is capable of competing with government-backed fiat.
The point was taken forward by Prof. Ferdinando Ametrano, who currently teaches Bitcoin and Blockchain technology at the Politecnico di Milano.
Speaking to ether.camp at the Blockchain: Money conference in London, Ametrano likened the impact that Bitcoin may have on the future of civilization with that of gold. That’s why he called the cryptocurrency “digital gold.”
Distinguishing between Bitcoin and Ethereum
When asked if he distinguishes between Ethereum and Bitcoin while teaching, Ametrano said he looks at alternative currencies as a worthwhile experiment, but shares the same view with Nobel prize winner, Friedrich von Hayek, who looked forward to an era when private money will compete on the market to establish the most relevant, most beneficial and most performing currency that can be used.
Ametrano says:
“We are in a moment in time with negative interest rates, we are facing probably the end of a phase in the fiat currency monetary policy. I mean, I see negative interest rates as a failure of the current governance model. So this is the right time in history to have private alternatives, private money which might be competing with government’s so-called money.”
He added:
“So, this is happening in the crypto space and this is just fantastic. Now, if you ask me what I think will prevail, I see Bitcoin having a huge advantage and I have some concerns about the global computer idea of Turing-completeness of Ethereum. But I might be wrong and I would be happy just for the world to test and assess respective weaknesses and strengths of different alternative solutions. The key point is that we can finally rebel against the monopoly of money, which the government and the power have always been abusing in history.”
More competition, more strength
Ametrano thinks that even if more mature platforms surpass Bitcoin, their experiments would provide some feedback for the evolution of the Bitcoin platform.
Ametrano says:
“This is the market, and this is what is good about the market: competition, providing new features. So it’s not like being pro-something or against something. I’m only in favour of Hayek’s dream of competing private money. And now if you ask me, I have my own idea on which private money might be better suited to answer to the need of the current economic situation. But that is my opinion. The fact which is good is that there is competition.”