An early bitcoin investor said Monday the digital currency can run higher, but the hype has far outpaced its usability.
“I think in the short run it can run up a lot more,” Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com, said Monday on CNBC’s “Fast Money.” But “it’s no longer a cryptocurrency. it’s just a game of hot potato at this point, and games of hot potatoes can go on for a long time, and lots of people can pump a lot of money into it and it might go on for even decades. But as far as its [being] used as money, the developers behind that have destroyed that at this point.”
“I’m really, really concerned about the future of bitcoin,” he said.
Nicknamed “Bitcoin Jesus,” Ver was an early proponent of bitcoin and bought $25,000 worth in 2011 that is now worth $425 million. However, in the debate over how to improve bitcoin’s transaction speeds and costs this summer, Ver sided with a minority of developers behind an offshoot called “bitcoin cash.”
“The fact of the matter is, the utility of bitcoin has been damaged,” Ver said. “If you feel like you missed out on bitcoin back in 2011, take a look at bitcoin cash, give it a use. I think you’ll be really, really impressed with the usefulness.”
