[2019-03-05] Billionaire Eugene Kaspersky: World Isn’t Ready for Bitcoin Yet

[CryptoTrump]

Billionaire Eugene Kaspersky says bitcoin is a brilliant innovation, but the world is not ready for cryptocurrency just yet. However, the CEO of Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab believes that will change — in 100 years.

Kaspersky made the remarks in an interview with Arabian Business, during which he denied reports that his Moscow cybersecurity company develops spying technology for Russian intelligence.
Bitcoin Adoption Requires New World Order

Kaspersky says he believes that digital currencies will eventually overtake paper money in the future. However, he thinks that will require a new world order, where there’s a single government instead of the many different nation-states that we have today.

    “Cryptocurrencies are a great idea, but the world is not ready for them yet. The world must be united if we want to have encrypted currencies. At the moment, governments will want to control them.”

https://www.ccn.com/billionaire-eugene-kaspersky-world-isnt-ready-for-bitcoin-yet

[o_e_l_e_o]

The article is a bit misleading, as is your line that he thinks the "world is not ready for cryptocurrency just yet". He never said that at all. What he said was he thinks it will take 100 years before bitcoin is the only currency on Earth, under a single global government. Given that currently there is around $90 trillion in broad money, and a further $300 trillion in real estate and business assets, converting all of that in to a single world-wide currency would be huge (not to mention converting things like stock markets, derivatives, etc). I think that's a very bullish prediction, rather than the bearish spin CCN seem to have put on it.

[J. Cooper]

I feel like 100 years is a little bit too conservative, especially since the adoption of new technologies can go extremely fast. A good example is the rise of mobile phones. In 1998 nobody expected people to walk around with mobile phones (check out this dutch interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNwhIHqM60g&t=17s). Little did these people know that only a mere 20 years later two-thirds of the worlds population would have a mobile phone connection. So there's absolutely no way it's going to take an entire century. It's either going to get adopted really quickly or it's not going to be adopted at all.

[milewilda]

I feel like 100 years is a little bit too conservative, especially since the adoption of new technologies can go extremely fast. A good example is the rise of mobile phones. In 1998 nobody expected people to walk around with mobile phones (check out this dutch interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNwhIHqM60g&t=17s). Little did these people know that only a mere 20 years later two-thirds of the worlds population would have a mobile phone connection. So there's absolutely no way it's going to take an entire century. It's either going to get adopted really quickly or it's not going to be adopted at all.

He make it 100 years rather than saying it on a short span of time because people would mostly react but actually it is somehow exaggerated and yes, technology adoption can really be fast but i dont really
see the possibility for Crypto to take over with fiat as long these greedy bastard government would exist they wont really allow such thing to happen since they do know on what would be the effects
if this thing would be implemented or changed.I would rather believe that e-currency would be utilize into those years and crypto is just always been an alternative.

[1Referee]

I would rather believe that e-currency would be utilize into those years and crypto is just always been an alternative.

Bitcoin being an alternative, at least for a few more decades, will be more than enough to gain the adoption and recognition it needs to resist governmental oppression.

We already have seen a glimpse of that in form of crypto peeps flooding local markets to transact in a peer to peer manner after harsh regulations that are meant to put a stop to this. The result of that is that governments finally start to understand that harsh regulations have negative consequences for them.

I'm perfectly fine with governments seeing Bitcoin as a fancy investment tool. As long as they believe that Bitcoin isn't a threat they won't start a fight, and by the time they do realize it, it's very likely too late already. 

[hatshepsut93]

The article is a bit misleading, as is your line that he thinks the "world is not ready for cryptocurrency just yet". He never said that at all. What he said was he thinks it will take 100 years before bitcoin is the only currency on Earth, under a single global government.

If there will be a single global government, I seriously doubt it will adopt Bitcoin, it will probably be totalitarian and have its own electronic fiat currency. And such government would probably outlaw Bitcoin, just like todays dictatorships do.
And as for the main message, our question should be, will the world ever be ready for Bitcoin? Will people ever realize how screwed they are by governments, especially in the digital age, or will they keep failing to even notice the problem, like they do now?

[o_e_l_e_o]

It's either going to get adopted really quickly or it's not going to be adopted at all.

This sentence reminded me of this quote by Satoshi:

I'm sure that in 20 years there will either be very large transaction volume or no volume.

I agree that 100 years is too long. Hashrate is increasing. Number of transactions is increasing. Adoption is increasing. As the article goes on to say, Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter) thinks there will be a single global currency within 10 years, and it will be bitcoin. I think 10 years is too soon for bitcoin to be a "single global currency", but we will certainly know in 10 years whether it is heading that way, as Satoshi predicted. I suspect it will be.

[pixie85]

We don't need globalisation and one government and we won't get that in 100 years. I'm very happy that we won't.

I guess in 1980 the world wasn't ready for the internet. It went from being a novelty that most people went without to something every person was using. I remember the boom of internet cafes in the 90s and how people were switching from playing on lan to playing on the internet.

Bitcoin will change buy a lot in 20 years. We don't need to wait 100.

[joniboini]

Bitcoin will change buy a lot in 20 years. We don't need to wait 100.

Appreciate your enthusiasm but I'm pretty sure we can't exactly predict when Bitcoin will be mainstream. Maybe 5 years, maybe 50 years, maybe 500 years. Let's just enjoy the progress shall we?

And as for the main message, our question should be, will the world ever be ready for Bitcoin? Will people ever realize how screwed they are by governments, especially in the digital age, or will they keep failing to even notice the problem, like they do now?

It will be so difficult for the majority of people to arrive at that conclusion. I think most of them would use Bitcoin because it's flexible and more importantly, the value is increasing which is a good thing as a store of value.

[2double0]

The article is a bit misleading, as is your line that he thinks the "world is not ready for cryptocurrency just yet". He never said that at all. What he said was he thinks it will take 100 years before bitcoin is the only currency on Earth, under a single global government.

If he thinks that Bitcoin can only be said as completely adopted if there's only one currency on Earth and that's BTC only but considers a condition that it would be under a single global government, then I think that even a century is less for that to happen because every government loves their power and the amount of money they gain through that power, they cannot just give it to a certain government built just for the sake of cryptocurrencies. And if it all comes under one hood, then too the "decentralization" will end.

Given that currently there is around $90 trillion in broad money, and a further $300 trillion in real estate and business assets, converting all of that in to a single world-wide currency would be huge (not to mention converting things like stock markets, derivatives, etc).

It is really hard to convert even money into new money (recent example was demonetization in India where people used to stand in lines for hours to get their old notes exchanged for newer ones). It will be a complete waste of paper as if it remains of no use.

I think that's a very bullish prediction, rather than the bearish spin CCN seem to have put on it.

Nothing new as it is their job to present things in an opposite way to add up some "break" to make the article eye-catching.

[Ozero]

The article is a bit misleading, as is your line that he thinks the "world is not ready for cryptocurrency just yet". He never said that at all. What he said was he thinks it will take 100 years before bitcoin is the only currency on Earth, under a single global government. Given that currently there is around $90 trillion in broad money, and a further $300 trillion in real estate and business assets, converting all of that in to a single world-wide currency would be huge (not to mention converting things like stock markets, derivatives, etc). I think that's a very bullish prediction, rather than the bearish spin CCN seem to have put on it.

I agree with the opinion of Kaspersky in the sense that a cryptocurrency can replace with itself national money only when there will be a single government on Earth. In the meantime, there will be states with different economic, political and other interests, until then the states will never give up their national money.

[Kakmakr]

Did PayPal wait for a new world order to start their company? We are not going to wait for the governments to change, because we are the government. A government is nothing without the people supporting it and most governments are voted into power by the people.

Bitcoin is like a unstoppable virus, it will replicate all over the world and people will be infected with a new payment method that are borderless and also pseudo anonymous. <People dictate the future of governments, so we should vote for the governments that supports our needs> 

[davis196]

100 years?Really?
This guy had never heard of technology acceleration or quantum computing.After 100 years the world will be way too different and perhaps all currencies will dissapear.Bitcoin might not exist ot it might change into something completely different.The world wasn't ready for computers,smartphones,internet and all the other innovations,but they were adopted eventually.

[Stedsm]

So what Kaspersky means is that, for him or anyone to be adopting a technology like Bitcoin over traditional currencies system, it needs 100 years for that to happen completely?
Well then, my question to him is that, even if it takes a century to overtake real world currencies (no doubt we will be dead by then), would he actually be willing to help for it to happen by spreading the word through his Antivirus? Would he be willing to let their buyers and investors purchase Antivirus contracts through crypto? Maybe that century could turn into a decade and everything could turn so quick?
Guys, adoption is already at a very speedy pace, it's just that the intervention of Governments is stopping (actually FUD'ing) us from using it IRL smoothly.

[o_e_l_e_o]

This guy had never heard of technology acceleration or quantum computing.

It is wild how quickly technology is developing. Here's a few examples from the last few decades:

The first hard drive from 1957 (62 years ago), weighing around a ton, being the size of two large fridges, and with 3.75 MB of storage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_IBM_magnetic_disk_drives#IBM_350
The first commercially available personal computer from 1977 (42 years ago), featuring a 1 MHz CPU and 4 KB of RAM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PET
The first commercially available mobile phone from 1983(36 years ago), featuring 10 hour charge time for 30 minutes of talk time, weighing in at 1.7 pounds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC
The first USB flash drive from 1999 (20 years ago), featuring 8MB of storage: https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/802zup/8mb_diskonkey_msystems_1999/

The world is getting smaller. More and more business takes place online. Computers, phones, TVs, cars, smart home devices, even kitchen appliances, are connected to the internet. Waiting 3 days and paying stupid exchanges fees on fiat is no longer compatible with the direction the world is going. I can't see it taking 100 years for bitcoin to take over.

[qwertyup23]

Kaspersky says he believes that digital currencies will eventually overtake paper money in the future. However, he thinks that will require a new world order, where there’s a single government instead of the many different nation-states that we have today.

    “Cryptocurrencies are a great idea, but the world is not ready for them yet. The world must be united if we want to have encrypted currencies. At the moment, governments will want to control them.”

https://www.ccn.com/billionaire-eugene-kaspersky-world-isnt-ready-for-bitcoin-yet

It is not just about amalgamating countries into a shift to digital currency but they have to take into consideration the economic discrepancies between first and third world countries. First world countries are concerned into making their lives a easier by implementing/developing technology which makes everything convenient and fast while third world countries are focused into alleviating poverty, eradicating corruption, development of infrastructures, etc.

Although it may seem impossible, it can happen in the future once we slowly adapt to this kind of system. From that aspect alone, cryptocurrencies would be the main medium once this change would be implemented.

100 years?Really?
This guy had never heard of technology acceleration or quantum computing.After 100 years the world will be way too different and perhaps all currencies will dissapear.Bitcoin might not exist ot it might change into something completely different.The world wasn't ready for computers,smartphones,internet and all the other innovations,but they were adopted eventually.

Computers, smartphones, and the internet were slowly adapted into countries that have access to them but we are talking about a whole-world scale of shifting to this kind of transaction. Some underdeveloped countries do not have access to such as poverty is their main problem. 100 years may be far-fetched but who really knows?

[Betwrong]

I agree with what @o_e_l_e_o said here. Technological change is exponential and that's why no one could predict 30 years ago that there will be over 2 billion smartphone users in 2019. Yes, fantasy authors could imagine that some superspies would be carrying a device like that, but no way they could imagine that such things would be available to regular people, not in 30 years.

Our brain simply can't keep up with the acceleration. We may think that we know the pace the world is changing at, and yet we can be terribly wrong about that.

[J. Cooper]

It's either going to get adopted really quickly or it's not going to be adopted at all.

This sentence reminded me of this quote by Satoshi:

I'm sure that in 20 years there will either be very large transaction volume or no volume.

Apparently, Satoshi and I share the same opinion on that matter  .

I agree that 100 years is too long. Hashrate is increasing. Number of transactions is increasing. Adoption is increasing. As the article goes on to say, Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter) thinks there will be a single global currency within 10 years, and it will be bitcoin. I think 10 years is too soon for bitcoin to be a "single global currency", but we will certainly know in 10 years whether it is heading that way, as Satoshi predicted. I suspect it will be.

I feel like bitcoin itself is almost ready for mainstream adoption. But for that to happen we have to throw all our current structures and beliefs out of the window, and I am not sure if the world is quite ready for that just yet. And as Eugene Kaspersky said, it will require a kind of new world order. And this could take decades, perhaps a century as he predicted even though I don't think it will take that long if we are going to see a single global currency.

[senin]

Did PayPal wait for a new world order to start their company? We are not going to wait for the governments to change, because we are the government. A government is nothing without the people supporting it and most governments are voted into power by the people.

Bitcoin is like a unstoppable virus, it will replicate all over the world and people will be infected with a new payment method that are borderless and also pseudo anonymous. <People dictate the future of governments, so we should vote for the governments that supports our needs> 

We should not forget that it is up to the governments to make various very important decisions about the development of the infrastructure for the circulation of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. Now Bitcoin and another cryptocurrency is still very poorly used as a means of payment precisely because of the slow legalization of cryptocurrency by the states. Without this, a cryptocurrency can only remain a means of financial settlement between individuals. Moreover, the decision to use or not use the ordinary national money of the states depends on governments.

[2double0]

<<snip>>

We should not forget that it is up to the governments to make various very important decisions about the development of the infrastructure for the circulation of cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

Really, we need Governments to develop the whole infrastructure for the circulation of cryptocurrencies? If I'm not wrong, we had been doing this since over a decade now, where were they till now? Just because they saw they are losing a lot of money as taxes and commissions, they started intervening into crypto space and are also trying to make everything centralized. Whom of you here really want your ^Govs.^ to allow crypto and then you would start to trade it? None, because everyone of you here are already doing it since and will do it forever. Bitcoin is a system which doesn't really need any organization's permission to run and that's its major significance.

Now Bitcoin and another cryptocurrency is still very poorly used as a means of payment precisely because of the slow legalization of cryptocurrency by the states.

True, which is why BTC even surpassed PayPal in terms of transaction volume? Whoops, these sarcastic comments...

 

Without this, a cryptocurrency can only remain a means of financial settlement between individuals. Moreover, the decision to use or not use the ordinary national money of the states depends on governments.

Crypto can never be used as a mode of payment just because it is not liquid enough to digest the stability for a specified time, and the volatility here shows that BTC and other crypto are here to be played as assets of markets through which we can only make more money.