‘Better Tech’ – Legendary Google billionaire backs radical rival to Bitcoin and Ethereum despite massive $2 trillion cryptocurrency crash
Bitcoin
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The price of bitcoin has plunged below $20,000 per bitcoin as the Federal Reserve pursues a series of hawkish rate hikes in its war on inflation, down from nearly $70,000 last year, while the price of ethereum has crashed along with it – with a stake of 300 million dollar – changer still potentially not priced in.
Now, formerly Google
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Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt became a strategic advisor to Chainlink Labs most recently … [+]
“I’m historically a skeptic,” Schmidt said at the SmartCon conference in New York this week alongside Chainlink Labs co-founder Sergey Nazarov, it was reported by Decrypt. Schmidt joined Chainlink Labs as a strategic advisor last December.
Chainlink uses software called oracles to connect data to blockchains, designed to help clunky and cumbersome decentralized networks scale. Chainlink’s link cryptocurrency has crashed by more than 80% since hitting an all-time high last May, outpacing price falls seen by bitcoin, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies.
Web3 — the idea that a blockchain-based, decentralized internet will eventually replace the Silicon Valley-centric Web 2.0 dominated by the likes of Google and Facebook’s Meta — is “not normal,” Schmidt said, warning that ethereum and other similar smart contract blockchains is “poor in its abilities”, with sky-high expectations of getting “a little ahead of reality” in recent years.
However, Schmidt said that ethereum’s long-awaited merger upgrade in September – which saw ethereum transition from bitcoin’s energy-hungry proof-of-work consensus model to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake – should be taken as “a sign that [the crypto] the industry is coming together.”
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The chain link price has fluctuated wildly in recent years, rising and crashing along with it … [+]
Meanwhile, Schmidt warned that looming crypto regulation may come too soon. “Don’t ask for regulation early,” Schmidt said.
This year, following 2021’s massive price boom for bitcoin, ethereum and crypto prices, governments and regulators around the world have begun putting together regulations that some fear could stifle the industry and crypto innovation.
Last month, the Biden administration instructed US government agencies to double down on bitcoin and crypto enforcement — potentially putting the $1 trillion market on a collision course with regulators after the White House Office of Science and Technology suggested bitcoin could be banned.
