Tim Berners-Lee, the architect of the World Wide Web (WWW), stated that digital currencies are “just speculative” and compared them to the “dot-com” bubble, during which internet stocks were often overvalued without a sound business strategy to back them.
But, the British computer scientist used stronger words to describe crypto: “Dangerous” and a form of “gambling.”
During the Friday episode of the “Beyond the Valley” podcast on CNBC, he stated:
“Obviously, that’s really dangerous. It’s if you want to have a kick out of gambling, basically.”
World Wide Web Inventor Not Satisfied With How His Vision Turned Out
In 1989, Berners-Lee is credited with creating the World Wide Web. Yet, he is unsatisfied with how his original vision for the global web has been realized.
Recent years have seen the emergence of Web3 as a metaphor for the extension of the World Wide Web based on blockchain technology and decentralization.
Berners-Lee feels that the next edition of the World Wide Web should be termed “Web 3.0,” which is distinct from Web3 and would not include such principles.
The World Wide Web. Image: Getty Images
According to some, Web3 is a decentralized internet that strips 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 firm Inrupt, where he is the chief technological officer, in order to give individuals greater control over their data.
Other Detractors Slam Crypto
His statement came around one week after US Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller compared crypto-assets to baseball cards.
Around a week before Waller shared his evaluation, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger – Berkshire’s second-in-command after Warren Buffet – described bitcoin as “sh*t,” “ridiculous,” and “worthless.”
Cryptocurrencies, Munger said, constitute a grave 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 premier information retrieval service (the global computer network). The Web provides users with access to a great number of documents that are linked to one another via hypertext or hypermedia links, electronic connections that interconnect relevant pieces of information to facilitate user access.
What Was The Internet Bubble?
The internet bubble was a speculative stock market bubble in which numerous internet-based companies enjoyed fast increase in their stock values, frequently 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 for their business strategies or financial realities.
DOT total market cap at $8.6 billion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com
World Wide Web Inventor: Crypto Good For Money Transfer
In 2021, Berners-Lee adopted a softer approach to the crypto sector by transforming the original code of the World Wide Web into an NFT through a series of artworks.
“This Changes Everything”, which is 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 possess the possibility to be used for international money transfers. Yet, once received, he recommended consumers to change them back into fiat currencies.
-Featured image from CNN
