Kraken CEO: “How Do You Justify Not Having Bitcoin On Your Balance Sheet”
2 min readJesse Powell, the co-founder, and CEO of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, spoke with Bloomberg Surveillance about his thoughts on the growth in corporate interest around Bitcoin.
Guy Johnson, the show’s host, explored many topics with Powell, beginning with his thoughts on Bitcoin. Powell talks about the recent acceptance of Bitcoin as a reserve asset and the inflation surrounding global fiat currencies as a major driver towards the leading cryptocurrency.
Powell sees Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, stating:
“Bitcoin is finite, predictable, and even a greater store of value than something like gold”
Johnson continued, this time asking Powell about a potential correlation between Bitcoin and the rise in tech stocks this year. Powell replied,
“both financial assets are just kind of on fire and reacting to all the money printing that is happening”
With major companies and publicly-traded firms investing in bitcoin as part of their treasury reserves, the asset class is starting to draw mainstream attention.
Powell doesn’t believe there is a direct connection between the growth of the two asset classes, but that they’re both being purchased for wealth protection.
When asked if this mainstream acceptance would decrease the amount of volatility seen in the market, Powell commented that he didn’t think bitcoin would experience low levels of volatility for a long time.
He explained that it could go anywhere from “$20,000 to $1 million.” Much of the volatility will likely occur if institutions accept Bitcoin to the point that it can seriously compete against other asset classes. Powell thinks that only when this happens will it see significantly less volatility.
Not Just Bitcoin
Powell highlighted not only the positivity of Bitcoin but also the future of Ethereum. The Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector took off this year, growing from less than $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) to close to $15 billion.
Powell says, “The DeFi story is becoming a bigger piece of the Ethereum ecosystem”. As more DeFi applications allow users and the unbanked to transact without third-party intervention, the decentralized economy will continue to grow.
2020 has witnessed a skyrocketing number of new DeFi applications. And if more money enters this space, the number of opportunities will likely expand.
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