In a recent Grayscale investor call on Feb. 12, Barry Silbert, the CEO and founder of Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Grayscale Investments, shared his optimistic view on Bitcoin. He discussed various topics related to digital assets, such as Bitcoin’s role in the generational shift of wealth, stablecoins, decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
CBDCs are digital currencies that a federal regulator controls and issues. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, CBDCs represent fiat money in the digital form. Many governments have been developing and exploring such projects, but no global jurisdiction has launched a CBDC yet. China is reportedly preparing to test its CBDC soon, while at least 10% of central banks are likely to issue a CBDC for the general public in the short term.
Barry Silbert millionaire, who claims to have bought his first Bitcoin in 2012, three years after the creation of the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain, argued that central banks that develop their own digital currencies might be giving more power to Bitcoin by creating the infrastructure for institutional interest. He suggests that Bitcoin and other non-central bank cryptocurrencies could gain from the same infrastructure that is used by the widespread adoption of CBDCs: “So at one point of the future we might have 80 different CBDCs. And if that happens, it would trigger a tremendous amount of investment in operators of financial systems where essentially every financial institution would then have to be able to safely store and transact CBDCs and, guess what, if they actually build that infrastructure, that same infrastructure could be used for non-central bank digital currencies like Bitcoin.” He also stated that he was sure that central banks will require users to use and engage with the existing financial systems and will not restrict the supply of the digital currency. “Central banks love to print money,” Silbert said, highlighting Bitcoin’s limited supply feature.
As he leads two major companies that are involved in various aspects of digital assets, Silbert is one of the most influential figures in the crypto industry. Grayscale Investments is the world’s largest digital asset manager, with over $40 billion in assets under management as of Feb. 12. Digital Currency Group is a venture capital firm that invests in various crypto-related projects, such as Gensis Trading, Foundry and CoinDesk.
Silbert has been vocal about his bullish views on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for a long time. Some projects, such as Ripple (XRP), which he regards as centralized and not genuine cryptocurrencies, have also been criticized by him. He has also predicted that most altcoins will experience bankruptcy in the long run, while Bitcoin will continue to dominate the market.
To conclude, Barry Silbert is a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry who suggests that central bank digital currencies are positive for Bitcoin. He argues that CBDCs will create the infrastructure for institutional interest in non-central bank cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. He also emphasizes that Bitcoin has a limited supply feature that makes it superior to fiat money. He leads two major companies that are involved in various aspects of digital assets: Grayscale Investments and Digital Currency Group.