Tim Berners-Lee, the architect of the World Wide Web (WWW), stated that digital currencies are “only speculative” and likened them to the “dot-com” bubble in which Internet stocks were often overvalued without a sound business strategy to pull them back.
But the British computer scientist used stronger words to describe crypto: “Dangerous” and a form of “gambling.”
During Friday’s episode of CNBC’s Beyond the Valley podcast, he explained:
“Of course it’s really dangerous. It’s basically if you want to have fun while gaming.”
World Wide Web inventor is not satisfied with the result of his vision
In 1989, Berners-Lee is credited with creating the World Wide Web. Still, he is dissatisfied with how his original vision for the global web was realized.
In recent years, the Web3 has emerged as a metaphor for the expansion of the World Wide Web based on blockchain technology and decentralization.
Berners-Lee believes that the next edition of the World Wide Web should be called “Web 3.0”, which differs from Web3 and would not include such principles.
The Internet. Image: Getty Images
According to some, Web3 is a decentralized internet that deprives Facebook and Google of some of their influence.
Berners-Lee, along with John Bruce, is attempting to redefine the future of the internet through his company Inrupt, where he is the Chief Technology Officer to give individuals greater control over their data.
Other critics slam crypto
His statement came about a week after Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller compared crypto assets to baseball cards.
About a week before Waller shared his sentiment, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger — Berkshire’s post-Warren Buffett deputy — described Bitcoin as “shit,” “ridiculous,” and “worthless.”
Cryptocurrencies, Munger said, pose a serious threat to the economic stability of the United States and the government should ban them entirely.
World Wide Web: Quick Definition
According to Britannica, the World Wide Web (WWW) is the Internet’s (the global computer network’s) premier information retrieval service. The Web provides users with access to a large number of documents that are linked together by hypertext or hypermedia links, electronic links that link relevant information together to facilitate user access.
What was the internet bubble?
The Internet Bubble was a speculative stock market bubble in which numerous Internet-based companies experienced rapid increases in their stock values, often without generating significant profits or revenues.
Often known as the “dot-com” bubble, it was fueled by excitement and speculation as investors poured money into companies without regard to their business strategies or financial realities.
DOT total market cap at $8.6 billion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com World Wide Web Inventors: Crypto good for money transfer
In 2021, Berners-Lee took a softer approach to the crypto sector, transforming the World Wide Web’s original code into an NFT through a series of artworks.
“This Changes Everything”, the title of the non-fungible token, was eventually auctioned off at Sotheby’s for $5.4 million.
Meanwhile, Berners-Lee believes that Bitcoin and alternative cryptocurrencies only have the option of being used for international money transfers. But once he received them, he recommended consumers exchange them back into fiat currencies.
-Featured image from CNN
