It has been at least a full week since we last heard a highly controversial statement regarding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. According to PayPal Founding CEO and Former Intuit CEO Bill Harris, Bitcoin is the greatest scam ever. A statement like that from an individual who sees his business models threatened by cryptocurrency is not necessarily surprising. Even so, it has the cryptocurrency community up in arms yet again.
Bill Harris Makes a Ridiculous Statement
It is neither the first nor the last time someone will call Bitcoin a scam. In virtually all of these cases, the statement is a direct result of either a lack of understanding of the technology or simply a bias against cryptocurrencies. It is unclear which side of the spectrum Bill Harris falls on, but his comment about Bitcoin being “the greatest scam in history” is not something people will appreciate. Even people who do not own any Bitcoin are not too amused by such statements.
To put this into perspective, Harris has been quite vocal about his dislike for Bitcoin. He has gone from warning people about it to claiming Bitcoin is a bubble and is now using the “scam” card. In his opinion, Bitcoin is nothing but a great pump-and-dump scheme which will eventually collapse when people least expect it. That is not a unique statement, as some financial experts have uttered similar baseless comments in the past.
Harris does raise one valid point. He mentions that some cryptocurrencies are pure frauds. In recent years, we have seen numerous projects disappear into thin air after their developers made a lot of money. BitConnect is the most recent example in this regard, but the concept is a lot older than most people think. Unlike what Harris believes, however, Bitcoin is a legitimate cryptocurrency, albeit one which is subject to manipulation and speculation.
Furthermore, Harris is completely convinced Bitcoin has no value at all, and that “promoters” of this cryptocurrency trick people into believing Bitcoin is a means of payment, a store of value, and so forth. He genuinely believes Bitcoin cannot be used for any of these things, thereby disregarding all of the merchants who accept and receive Bitcoin payments on a regular basis. If Bitcoin had no value, no one would accept it for payments. In the real world, however, the number of merchants accepting Bitcoin payments has been growing steadily for some time now.
It was only to be expected that Harris would simply parrot the words of financial experts who oppose Bitcoin. He does so by referring to Bitcoin as “only a tool for criminal activity“. It seems Harris has read a few media headlines, but his lack of understanding the role of Bitcoin in such schemes – and the borderline negligible impact it has on overall crime – seem to be beyond his comprehension. There is always more than one biased side to every story.
In the end, comments like these are to be expected as Bitcoin becomes more popular. People will oppose that which they do not understand or wish to succeed. Bill Harris is entitled to his own opinion, but very few people will take his “advice” as there is no point in doing so. Bitcoin is here to stay, regardless of what some people want to happen.
