Between Libra and Bitcoin, I Want Bitcoin | Interview with Tim Draper

So, Tim, last time we talked was back in December when we reached the bottom of the bear market. At the time, bitcoin was worth 3600. But still you were very bullish, and you said that basically it was just a matter of temporary fluctuations in the price. Now bitcoin is worth around 200% more than back then. Don't you think that this can also be a kind of fluctuation and we could fall back again soon?

I'm saying bitcoin is going to be 250,000 by 2022 or 2023. I think we're getting there. We're going to go through a bunch of fluctuations, but really, one bitcoin is still worth one bitcoin. All these other currencies are fluctuating against it as they slowly drift away and become useless. I see a future where we don't have to pay the credit card companies 2.5 to 4% every time we buy something. It's not the credit card companies, it's the banks. And they're the ones who are trying to gang up and get rid of Bitcoin. The blockchain is distributed. It keeps perfect records. It's completely transparent. That's going to change the nature of what accounting is. And of course, the accountants will feel threatened by that and they'll do something to try to change it. But technology kind of wins all the wars, and this is one of the great technologies of the world. We are all going to be so much better off. So you're going to see fluctuations over the next couple of years because of the various pressure points that are happening. And they're going to come and they're going to go, and they're going to come and they're going to go. And I'm just saying, hey, by 2022, 2023, Bitcoin is going to be at least 5% market share of the world currency market. And that seems actually a little conservative. And that means bitcoin at that point is a $250,000 token.

So in a recent interview, the famous economist Nouriel Roubini said that according to him, Bitcoin is far less secure than fiat. In fact, he said that if you lose your credit card details, then you can still get refunded from the bank, while if your private key gets stolen or lost, then your crypto fund are gone forever. What do you think about it?

Well, for one thing, he's wrong. Because if you have more than $250,000, no bank is responsible for refunding your Money. And the other thing he's wrong about is that the bitcoin blockchain has never been hacked, but the banks are being hacked all the time. And they are playing whack a mole with the hackers, trying to keep them away while their technology just gets older and older. Whereas the bitcoin blockchain never been a hack, knock on wood. And that technology is on the rise. And all the best engineers in the world are working to improve the bitcoin blockchain and all of the ways that we can work with it. And they're moving away from banks and the way we operate with them. And so the best security will be with bitcoin. Every economist I know has written their book and they don't want to change it, even though what they should be saying is, whoa, this is so cool. It's amazing. This can be a whole transformation of the economic system. Instead they're going, I wrote my book. This is what I've taught everybody. This is the way it is. I'm never going to change it. And so those are the people who have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are. But progress moves ahead and they're going to have to adapt. So tell them to write another book.

So let's talk about Libra now, Facebook's cryptocurrency. Everybody's talking about this new project. A lot of people are very excited about it. Others are more concerned because of privacy issues, which in the past have been affecting Facebook's reputation. So what's your stance towards this new project by Facebook?

I always welcome innovation. I always think it's a real positive. I think that you have a tried and true and tested currency in bitcoin. And Libra is new, so there is some risk to it and they haven't been tested and it might be hacked like day one. But the other thing that I'm concerned about is Libra is centralized. And a big part of the value of currencies is that these new currencies is that they are decentralized. I mean, if you're going to play around with Libra, you're going to probably. You just have to trust Facebook to be a good operator. And I think I would under Zuckerberg. But if he ever moves out and there's a new CEO, I'm not sure I would trust them. You know, given the choice do I want Bitcoin or I want Libra, I want Bitcoin. I want a currency that is tried and true, that has been battle tested and is decentralized. Open, transparent and global.

So if you had to invest in any crypto projects which are active now in the space, which ones would you choose?

Well, I already did invest. I invested in Open Node because they're actually making it so that Bitcoin can easily be spent and used and a retailer can easily use it to buy it. We've had investments in all sorts of decentralized technologies, something called gun or party, depending on, I guess they've got a new name for it. Party is decentralized bandwidth. And I think that's going to be a powerful thing. We have a company called Unstoppable, which is decentralized websites or decentralized social media, which is social media that can't be censored by a government.

So now can you tell us a bit about your usual vetting process? What are the characteristics which a project needs to have in order to attract your attention?

Well, a lot of it has to do with the team and a lot of it has to do with the technology. The technology has to be unique and open and new for us to get interested. And it has to have a fundamental change to the world. It has to make some fundamental impact in the world and it can't be something that we've already seen a lot of before. So if it's just another token that's centralized around some company or people, we don't want to do that. But if it's a token that's extremely good with smart contracts, and some of the contracts have been built, that might be interesting. If it's a token where you make Bitcoin an easy system for whatever, whatever it is that you're making Bitcoin an easy system for, then I think you've got a chance.

So not long ago, the co founder at Morgan Creek Capital Management, Anthony Pompliano, said he holds over 50% of its wealth in Bitcoin. Can you tell us what percentage of your wealth is put in crypto?

I have no idea. I think when you count your money, it's time to sell everything. I'm on the rise. I'm thinking I'm still putting my chips in. We take bitcoin for our university, for tuition, we take Bitcoin for rent. Here in our incubator, we accept Bitcoin for anything, guys.

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