A proper understanding of cryptocurrencies will eliminate hype and anti-government rhetorics, thereby attracting major players into the industry, says Larry Christopher Bates of BitLand.
He believes that there has come a time when some big names within the FinTech industry are beginning to discuss Blockchain in a more serious manner and seem prepared to walk the walk:
“I believe the disappearance of anti-government rhetoric has a lot to do with the involvement of big institutions.”
Bitcoin was hurt by rhetoric
Bates says that the problem was that 90 percent of crypto was libertarian/anarchist who had the worst possible rhetoric to be associated with the technology. Now that more pragmatic rhetoric is surrounding the technology, big companies are starting to see its potential.
Considering the political reluctance on matters concerning Blockchain and its associated elements, it is not strange to assume that these institutional participants may just be shy in their claims of peculiarity.
Bates says that before this time, a lot of anarchists and libertarians hyped the Blockchain to be the replacement for governments and banks, a phenomenon that, according to him, is simply not feasible. According to Bates, that rhetoric is too detached from reality. He gives the example of M-Pesa, which is gaining more traction within the African continent over Bitcoin.
Blaming evangelists
Bates blames the evangelists and hardcore Bitcoin people for most of the problems and resistance encountered by the digital currency, saying that now that they aren't dominating the conversation and shouting down criticisms of Bitcoin, financial institutions can hear legitimate arguments for the technology.
Bates emphasizes that Blockchain is not needed in every part of the economy. He notes that SQL works better than Blockchain for many business operations, in which case he says that the community is getting closer to the real use cases that make sense in the real world as all of the hype is fizzling for good data.
An example that Bates considers is the successes recorded by M-Pesa, having reduced poverty by two percent in Kenya:
“There are legitimate data sets to show the benefits of mobile money, and you don't actually need Blockchain to do mobile money as M-Pesa has shown.”
Bates concludes by saying that the digital currency community needs to stop the hype, do due diligence and stop treating crypto like a get rich quick scheme. He says that many people claim to be in it for liberating the working class, but when pressed on their views, they just want to make money:
“That is a dangerous culture that could kill digital currency by making all crypto seem like pyramid schemes, and many of them were just pyramid schemes. People need to really have a fundamental understanding of where the value is derived before they get anywhere near crypto. Presently, there is insufficient macro/micro knowledge in the field, too much techno jargon and not enough economic understanding.”