Former Moscow Exchange Top Manager: Bitcoin Will Become Worthless in 20 Years

22.03.2016

Roman Sulzhyk, former managing director for futures market at the Moscow Exchange, predicted at Blockchain Conference Kyiv that Bitcoin would be dead in 20 years’ time. Sulzhyk believes Bitcoin is but a phase of natural evolution of money while true crypto-revolution is just dawning.

However, notwithstanding the ominous prophecy, the financial expert believes that the cryptocurrency’s may dramatically grow in short-term.

“The opportunity to instantly teleport values to any place in the world is a unique thing. Earlier you had to deal with gold and other physical objects. Using Bitcoin to teleport values is a truly fantastic thing. If we look 20 years ahead, cryptocurrency would be worthless; however, in mid-term its value may be enormous, as it is one-of-a-kind tool,” Sulzhyk said.

Bitcoin, The Internet, and Autocracy

Sulzhyk believes autocratic regimes will continue their attempts to censor and ban internet, but not because it may facilitate protests and revolutions. The reason for that, Sulzhyk thinks, is in using Bitcoin that may facilitate capital outflow, exchange money for any foreign currency, and provide maximum personal control over finance.

Sulzhyk said developed countries will soon realize Bitcoin undermines economies of autocratic nations, not theirs. For that reason, he believes, Bitcoin would be integrated into financial infrastructure of developed economies.

Banks and Blockchain

As for interest of banking entities to blockchain technology, Sulzhyk mostly agrees with some of the most widespread opinions in the industry. The financial expert said fiat money will gradually incorporate the new protocol, and the banks will start using blockchain to solve their own issues. However, Bitcoin would never become of substantial interest for average users, as those new protocols would provide the same opportunities minus additional risks related to uncontrollable cryptocurrency.

Blockchain, Sulzhyk says, has a unique value for bankers. Just like switching to open-source operating systems once superseded major manufacturers of specialized software, blockchain will change the market as well.

“Switching to Linux servers has kicked SUN out of the banking sector and has driven it to bankruptcy,” the expert noted.

Considering Bitcoin as an evolutionary phase, similar to internet or smartphones, the revolution is still ahead. Sulzhyk believes it will occur thanks to p2p-exchanges maintaining trust technologically rather than by means of regulation or centralized services like it happens now.

Roman Sulzhyk is a financial expert and chairman at the supervisory council of Ukrainian National Depository. He has been the director for futures market at Moscow exchange from 2013 to 2015. In late 2015, parliament member Yevgeny Fyodorov accused Sulzhyk of undermining Ruble stability and harming Russian economy on purpose. Fyodorov registered a complaint at the Russian Investigative Committee, however, the committee found the accusations unjustified.

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Tags: banks, Bitcoin, blockchain, Roman Sulzhyk, Ukraine