A few days ago Joanna Stern from Wall Street Journal [WSJ], bumped in Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong and took the opportunity to ask him a few crypto-related questions.
Brian Armstrong is the Chief Executive Officer [CEO] and Co-founder of Coinbase, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange. As CEO, Armstrong is responsible for the company’s retail and institutional arms as well as all products and services that are developed by both trading platforms.
Why Crypto?
In response to the reason as to why cryptocurrencies are important, Armstrong bluntly pointed out the fact that Bitcoin [BTC] is a decentralized technology that allows users to make peer-to-peer transactions all across the world, with relatively low transaction fees and really fast transaction speed.
Well, the evolution of cryptocurrencies has really transformed the world today. The growing market has greatly impacted on not just the global economy but also the financial sector, easing remittance services.
Unlike in the beginning where very few people had at least the basic knowledge of what cryptocurrencies are, there are now more entrepreneurs, economists, aid officials and bankers who believe in the potential of these digital coins and have already invested in them.
Armstrong himself gets paid in BTC instead of fiat currency. This however does not mean that cryptocurrencies are going to replace the dollar. As he puts it, “Crypto is more of a complement than a substitute to the dollar.’
You can use crypto coins to buy or pay for as much as anything around the world, these include medical bills. The coin works exactly like other fiat currencies, only with more transaction privacy, transparency and security. With the blockchain technology underlying these digital coins the platform is incorruptible.
Stablecoins to Crypto Volatility
Armstrong sums up blockchain as ‘the technology underlying Bitcoin’ -and other cryptocurrencies. The technology keeps a ledger of all data exchanges and uses a p2p network of nodes to verify each transaction. Transactions done on a blockchain platform are all encrypted and cannot be altered.
According to Armstrong, ‘stablecoins gets rid of Cryptos volatility point’. He views stablecoins as what would make the crypto market more stable, -with US bank accounts backing every USD Coin.
Stablecoins are a unique type of Altcoins that are stable and are pegged to real world assets such as gold or the US dollar. These coins offer trade stability by insulating the market from wild volatility.
