Jack Ma, a Chinese business magnate who founded e-commerce giant Alibaba, has recently joined the “bitcoin is a bubble” bandwagon, while arguing that blockchain technology isn’t. Ma’s words came during a speech at the Second World Intelligence Conference in Tianjin, according to local news outlet 8BTC.
During the event, Ma revealed he’s been researching blockchain technology for years, and that he believes it can help solve some data-related problems our society currently deals with, on governmental, corporate, and individual levels.
Per 8BTC’s report, Ma stated he’s been eyeing blockchain technology ever since he found out it could solve privacy and security-related issued, as security “is the top priority of Alibaba.” Reportedly, the e-commerce revealed its full-year revenue was of $39.9 billion last year, after seeing “trillions of transactions” go through its platform.
Ma noted most pay attention to blockchain technology because of bitcoin, and argued the cryptocurrency was in a bubble, not the technology itself. 8BTC’s report reads:
“He said people with superficial understanding of blockchain think it is a huge gold mine. We should seek solutions for data and privacy security from blockchain, in a bid to create values for the society. While for the moment, many see it as a money-maker, it’s screwed.”
Notably this isn’t the first time Jack Ma addresses the flagship cryptocurrency. Back in November 2017, he was asked about bitcoin and claimed that while it was “very powerful,” he wasn’t interested in it, but in how it could help society.
Later on, in December, the businessman was still wary of the cryptocurrency, despite its then $15,000 price tag. He was quoted as saying:
“I don't know about bitcoin at all. I'm particularly puzzled. Even if it can really work, the rules of global trade and the financial system will be completely changed. I don't think we are ready. So I'm still paying attention to Alipay… to the US dollar, and the euro. We have a team that studies blockchain, but bitcoin is not something that I want to pursue. We don't care about bitcoin.”
Reportedly, Alibaba is the organization holding the largest amount of blockchain-related patents in the world, but has been avoiding cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year Alibaba Cloud denied rumors suggesting its “P2P Nodes” network was cryptocurrency-related. Last month Taobao, an Alibaba subsidiary, blocked cryptocurrency and ICO-related ads from its platform.
