Bitcoin is “one of the worst cryptocurrencies”, claims Cyber ​​Capital founder

by · August 28, 2022

Founder and CIO of the crypto-focused fund Cyber ​​Capital Justin Bons has called Bitcoin “technically one of the worst cryptocurrencies”, and a “purely speculative asset with no utility” compared to other cryptocurrencies due to the lack of technological progress.

Bons added his two cents in an 11 part Twitter thread on August 28, which states that Bitcoin and BTC’s value proposition has long deteriorated due to a broken long-term security model, relatively weak financial qualities, and a lack of capacity, programmability and composability.

Bons has been an outspoken figure in the crypto community for several years now, having established one of Europe’s oldest cryptocurrency funds (Cyber ​​Capital) in 2016 and considered himself a full-time crypto researcher since 2014. In addition, Bons has operated nodes on Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash -network.

While Justin said he vigorously defended BTC in 2014, he said “the reality is that BTC has changed dramatically since then,” with the decision not to increase the block size limit representing a “huge departure from the original vision and purpose of Bitcoin.”

“The world has also moved on and developed. I remember it used to be said that BTC would only adopt the best technologies. This task has clearly failed completely as BTC has no smart contracts, privacy technology or scaling breakthroughs.”

However, Bons does not appear to address the Bitcoin Lightning network, which is one of the more obvious solutions to the network’s scaling problem.

Bons added that rival networks have adopted superior token design methods, with some smart contract networks adopting fee-burning mechanisms that can trigger negative token inflation rates:

“BTC’s financial qualities are also incredibly weak […] BTC competes with cryptocurrencies that can achieve negative inflation […] due to fee burning, high capacity and high utility value […] such as post-merger ETH and alternatives such as AVAX, NEAR & EGLD.”

Without any significant technological advances or utility, Bons argues that BTC has become a purely speculative asset for many people, who continue to invest “as opposed to fundamental reasons for income, utility and usage analysis.”

Bons is not the first to use such strong language to describe Bitcoin.

In June 2022, Chairman of China’s Blockchain Service Network (BSN) Yifan He told Cointelegraph that “all unregulated cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin are Ponzi schemes”.

Former US treasurer and current Ripple board member Rosa Rios said last year in September that Bitcoin is nothing more than a speculative tool compared to other digital assets such as XRP, which is primarily used to facilitate cross-border payments.

Related: What is the purpose of Bitcoin: Speculation or dollarization?

When it was originally launched in 2009, Bitcoin was designed as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper addressed that any speculation regarding its value as an investment is simply a by-product of its main purpose.

The narrative surrounding Bitcoin has changed over time, with the leading cryptocurrency seen as an inflation hedge, store of value and digital gold over the years.