Bart Smith, who heads the Digital Assets department for Susquehanna
Bart Smith, who heads the Digital Assets department for Susquehanna International Group, backed Bitcoin as the “best bet for cryptocurrency investors” in a recent interview to CNBC. Smith opined that while the boom in virtual currency that occurred at the end of last year and beginning of this year had propelled most digital currencies to their days in the sun, Bitcoin is the only coin that has enough sustainability in terms of functions to survive the market. The top executive of Wall Street went on to suggest that Bitcoin, a ‘’currency of the internet” will soon be used on a large scale in various spheres. While his prediction might appear optimistic, he remains convinced that users will continue to take to Bitcoins with greater enthusiasm thanks to its large market adoption and popularity.
Terming the cryptocurrency “digital gold”, Bart Smith further commented that the digital currency space is volatile and users tend to shift focus the very moment promises are not fulfilled or needs are not met. Novel technological leaps in the form of Smart Contracts and Lightning Network, while sounding incredible on paper, are rather tenuous to achieve and delays are inevitable. Realizing these issues, customers are embracing Bitcoins that serve as a “cross-border money transfer system”. While traditional banks consume a lot of time and are inordinately expensive, Bitcoins enable users to transfer money cheaply from one place to another with relative ease. He cited a common phenomenon where people work in one country but need to transfer money to their families in their home countries. For those situations, Bitcoins are an excellent alternative to traditional avenues of making transfers, like using a Western Union Bank.
Bitcoin is the largest digital currency in terms of market cap and has, like other crypto tokens, come under increasing scrutiny with regulatory authorities pondering on the finer points of cryptocurrency usage. The top executive also believes that if Bitcoin prices fall to around $5000, user adoption and enthusiasm will increase further. On 12th July, the cryptocurrency was priced at $6194, having a market cap of $106.2 billion.