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“Bitcoin is ultimately the hardest store of value that we’ve ever seen in the history of man,” Hut 8 Mining CEO Jaime Leverton, who is also a big believer in web3, said in a virtual session Tuesday hosted by the Economic Club of New York.
In other words, the number of bitcoins (BTC-USD) in circulation (capped at 21M coins) is predetermined, with the last coin in circulation expected to take place in 2140. “So the fact that it has a predetermined number of units, gives it a very hard store of value unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” Leverton said, adding that gold (XAUUSD:CUR) is probably the closest competitor as a store of value, though it’s uncertain how much mined and unmined gold is out there.
Moreover, bitcoin (BTC-USD) stands alone when compared with other cryptocurrencies given that the Proof-of-Work-based blockchain “runs without any centralization whatsoever,” Leverton said. Bitcoin was invented by the mysterious and unknown Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, though most crypto projects’ originators nowadays are known and quite involved, she added.
And in order for bitcoin (BTC-USD) to reach its “maximum potential, it needs web3 to also reach its maximum potential,” Leverton highlighted. Web3 is an idea for a new internet based on decentralized blockchains. Bitcoin and web3 are “inextricably linked,” so “further adoption in one side will naturally feel further adoption for the other side.” Meanwhile, a slew of firms have recently made moves to expand into the web3 ecosystem, such as Apollo Global (APO), Uniswap Labs (UNI-USD) and Bain Capital.
Looking at intraday crypto price action, bitcoin (BTC-USD -0.4%) is edging down to $38.1K in midday trading, while ethereum (ETH-USD +0.7%) inches up to $2.81K.
In the beginning of May, Warren Buffett said “if you offered me all the world’s bitcoin for $25, I wouldn’t take it.”
