Uri Levine, the co-founder of the popular navigation software app Waze, has recently revealed he believes bitcoin is the “coin of crime,” and that it doesn’t have any value, just like blockchain technology. This, as these aren’t trying to solve a problem, he said.
Levine’s words came while speaking to Brazilian news outlet Criptomoedas Fácil, during the tech event Campus Party 2018, which had over 120,000 attendees in São Paulo. CryptoGlobe was given access to the audio.
When asked about his thoughts on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, he compared them to his app Waze, and expressed he isn’t a fan or cryptocurrencies or their underlying blockchain technology.
The Israeli engineer started off noting that when Waze was created, they were looking to solve a specific problem: traffic jams. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, aren’t trying to solve a problem, he said.
When you look at cryptocurrency and bitcoin and things like that the I would ask you: what exactly is the problem they were trying to solve? The answer is I don’t know, no one knows. They were not trying to solve a problem.
Levine added that if cryptocurrencies aren’t solving a problem, “they aren’t creating value. He concluded by saying that he doesn’t “see a future for anything that is not creating value.”
While various bitcoin bears believe in the potential of blockchain technology, Levine appears to be bearish on both. When asked about the tech’s potential, he added that “technology by itself means absolutely nothing,” as the real question is what can be done with it.
He added:
The only use of that [blockchain technology] today is really bitcoin. Bitcoin is the coin of crime, and I don’t want to support that.
The entrepreneur’s views echo those of various cryptocurrency bears, who’ve heard of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for their use in dark web markets, where illicit goods and services are bought and sold.
While the total number of bitcoin transactions on the darknet has reportedly doubled last year, a Kaspersky survey has revealed bitcoin’s adoption worldwide increased by 700%. As CryptoGlobe covered, French tobacco shops have started selling BTC, and there are now luxurious real estate properties for sale on crypto.
