Former Google CEO Schmidt on blockchain: “In the public format, overrated. In its technical use, underrated.”
Former CEO of Google, Eric Schmitdt is fond of blockchain, especially once it reaches the next level in development with execution being built on top of blockchains (something that is already happening on Ethereum and Bitcoin).
Schmidt was interviews on a live event hosted by Village Global in San Francisco, about a variety of diverse topics from underused management strategies, what Google learned after interviewing one job candidate sixteen times, his opinion on early vs. late Picasso, the best reform in corporate governance, why we might see a bifurcation of the Internet, what technology will explode in the the next 10 years, the most underrated media source, and more. The part about blockchain went like this:
COWEN: Blockchain, overrated or underrated?
SCHMIDT: In the public format, overrated. In its technical use, underrated.
COWEN: And what do you think that technical use will prove to be? What problem is it there to solve?
SCHMIDT: Well, today, blockchain is a great platform for Bitcoin and other currencies, and it’s a great platform for private banking transactions where people don’t trust each other.
I think the most interesting stuff that’s going on are the beginning of execution on top of blockchain, the most obvious example being the capability of Ethereum. And if Ethereum can manage to figure out a way to do global synchronization of that activity, that’s a pretty powerful platform. That’s a really new invention.
Schmidt is already known to be a believer in bitcoin with his famous quote about it:
“Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic achievement and the ability to create something that is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value”
“The bitcoin architecture, literally the ability to have these ledgers which can’t be replicated, is an amazing advancement,” he continued. “Lot’s of people will build businesses on top of that.”
Schmidt isn’t the only person at Google who sees potential in bitcoin. Google Director of Ideas Jared Cohen said that “[cryptocurrencies like bitcoin] are inevitable“.
He also tweeted about BTC back in the bull days of last year:
Whatever you think of BitCoin, it’s eye-popping to see it exceed $10000 per ‘coin’ https://t.co/JklPs2tFXv
— Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) November 29, 2017
The buzz about bitcoin and blockchain is not dying down, just the contrary.
