Bitcoin is like everything else. For every friend it makes, it also seems to make an enemy. For every person that likes it and appreciates it, there is always someone out there condemning it and warning others against it.
To some, bitcoin represents massive potential. To others, it is a waste of time and effort, and should be avoided at all costs. Moguls such as Warren Buffett and various high-ranking business holders have shared their concern over the fluctuations in price the digital currency has exhibited and tell investors that bitcoin has no merit.
Other entities, however, feel differently. One such person is Oswald Gruebel, the former CEO of UBS and Credit Suisse. Gruebel believes heavily in the power and potential of bitcoin, and that along with gold, bitcoin is the only true long-term investment that’s worthy of any mass attention:
“The only investment that demonstrably keeps its value over a long period is gold, and in future perhaps also bitcoins… Gold and Bitcoins production is limited. Not so with money. Central banks can print money limitlessly and these days they are telling us that openly. It’s therefore no longer recoverable.”
His words come as a shock, considering the massive opposition bitcoin has faced from Switzerland in recent years, but for the most part, Gruebel doesn’t believe that banks will always hold the power they now possess:
“Capital requirements mean that in future, banks will no longer be in a position to take advantage of their position as market makers… That means that they’ll no longer be buying when rates sink, and no longer be selling when they rise. It simply costs too much in terms of capital… Therefore markets can tumble a lot faster than in the past…”
Do you all agree with Gruebel? Will the power of bitcoin soon overcome that of banks? Post your comments below.
Images from UBS and Creative Commons