Novogratz says in a CNBC interview that Bitcoin is unsuited to be a currency unlike other crypto assets such as Ethereum (ETH), which he notes is already serving as a medium of exchange.
“I don’t think it [Bitcoin] will be a currency. I think it will be a store of value. Ethereum is already trading like a currency, right. It’s the currency of culture. When people buy NFTs [non-fungible tokens), they say ‘How many ETH does it cost?’”
According to the Galaxy Digital chief executive, high inflation and depreciating currencies will aid in the adoption of Bitcoin.
“People are opting into the Bitcoin community. There are literally more people that own Bitcoin than live in Russia. It’s the eighth-largest country in the world by participants. They freely opted in and said ‘We believe in this ethos of this community,’ which is a hard money way to store our wealth. And I think that will gain momentum as trust continues to break down.
Listen, if [Federal Reserve Chair] Jerome Powell and [U.S. Treasury Secretary] Janet Yellen can get our economy back to 2% inflation and have our debt come back, because growth is so high, and we go from 140 debt-to-GDP ratio to 70, Americans won’t have to buy Bitcoin.
But if you are in Russia, you feel pretty stupid having all your money in ruble. Or if you are in Turkey, you feel pretty stupid having all your money in the Turkish lira.
And so when there is bad stewardship of economies, which our stewardship has not been great, let’s make no bones about it – Bitcoin provides a great alternative for people to just store their money.”
Since the imposition of sanctions on Russia by the US and its allies following the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian ruble has lost over 40% of its value relative to the dollar in less than a month.
On the other hand, the Turkish lira has depreciated by around 50% against the dollar over the past 12 months.
HT - https://dailyhodl.com/2022/03/19/billionaire-mike-novogratz-rules-out-bitcoin-being-used-as-currency-reveals-what-will-accelerate-btc-adoption/