For better or for worse, the attitudes held by public entities and figures are prone to change. While there is nothing inherently wrong with updating an opinion in light of new information, it is certainly interesting to consider how attitudes towards cryptocurrencies have changed over the past few years.
Mark Cuban, a billionaire American investor and businessman, furthered his opinions on Bitcoin since his early statements in 2014. At that time, Cuban said he had not invested in cryptocurrencies, but admitted that he was constantly evaluating his opinion.
[maxbutton id="1" ]
The original statement: As a transport mechanism, an accounting digital transport mechanism, its unique and has a great opportunity in the future, said Cuban in a 2014 discussion with USA Today. I think its got no shot as a long term digital currency.The switch: While Cuban is not a full-fledged Bitcoin advocate, it is clear that he is continually evolving his outlook on the digital currency industry.In October 2017, Cuban told Bloomberg Technology that he holds bitcoin, following his indecision to invest years earlier.https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/953104057727619074Further, in early 2018, a CNBC report stated that the Dallas Mavericks, a basketball team owned by Cuban, would begin accepting bitcoin.
JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, is a famous Bitcoin detractor The original statement: Its just not gonna happen, youre wasting your time," he said in 2015. "This is my personal opinion. There will be no real non-controlled currency in the world. Theres no government thats gonna put up with it for long.In October 2017, Dimon furthered his controversial statements, saying "If you're stupid enough to buy [bitcoin], you'll pay the price for it one day." The switch:Jamie Dimon is far from an advocate of Bitcoin in modern times. However, he did soften his previous statements on Bitcoin towards the beginning of 2018. In January, Dimon said that he regretted getting involved in the discussion, citing a lack of interest in the topic."The blockchain is real," he said in a 2018 interview with Fox Business. "The bitcoin [issue] was always to me what the governments are going to feel about bitcoin when it gets really big. And I just have a different opinion than other people."
The province of Qubec has been hard to read when it comes to cryptocurrency mining. The original statement: In January 2018, Hydro-Qubec CEO Eric Martel announced an attempt to attract international mining farms to relocate to Qubec to leverage leftover energy.The switch: However, the invite attracted significant interest, causing Hydro-Qubec to rescind its previous sentiment due to an inability to accommodate the demand. In March 2018, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said the province was not interested in providing cheap electricity to Bitcoin miners.If you want to come settle here, plug in your servers and do Bitcoin mining, were not really interested, he said. There needs to be added value for our society; just having servers to do transaction mining and acquire new Bitcoins, I dont see the added value.The switch (again): However, In May 2018, according to Le Journal De Montreal, the government of Quebec set out to lift a moratorium preventing institutions from supplying electricity to digital currency miners. Reportedly, the government does not want to miss the boat on cryptocurrency mining. As a result, it will be interesting to see the role that cryptocurrency mining plays in the province moving forward.
Overall, the most significant entity with a growing or otherwise changing opinion on cryptocurrencies is the public. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have come a long way since their original perception as being merely a tool for illegal activities and fraudulent actors - a detraction that some of the world's billionairesstill talk about. As proponents continue to lead the industry forward, and regulation looks to legitimize the industry in the context of other institutions, the publics opinion on digital currencies could continue to evolve.Image Credit: Flickr
Buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and other cryptocurrencies on Coinsquare, Canadas premier trading platform.
[maxbutton id="2"]
