Former crypto skeptic Bill Ackman, the Founder and CEO of hedge fund management firm Pershing Square Capital Management, now thinks that crypto “has the potential to greatly benefit society and grow the global economy.”
On 20 November 2022, Ackman wrote:
“… I was initially a crypto skeptic, but after studying some of the more interesting crypto projects, I have come to believe that crypto can enable the formation of useful businesses and technologies that heretofore could not be created. The ability to issue a token to incentivize participants in a venture is a powerful lever in accessing a global workforce to advance a project…
“The problem with crypto is that unethical promoters can create tokens simply to facilitate pump and dump schemes… Despite crypto’s ability to facilitate fraud, with the benefit of sensible regulation and oversight, crypto technology’s potential for beneficent societal impact may eventually compare with the impact of the telephone and internet on the economy and society…
“Initially, I assumed that there is no intrinsic value to any of the tokens and therefore they simply represent a modern-day version of tulip mania without the aesthetic benefits. But after examining a number of interesting crypto projects, I began to understand how a token could build intrinsic value over time…
“… I think crypto is here to stay and with proper oversight and regulation, it has the potential to greatly benefit society and grow the global economy. All legitimate participants in the crypto ecosystem… should therefore be highly incentivized to expose and eliminate fraudulent actors as they greatly increase the risk of regulatory intervention that will set back the positive potential impact of crypto for generations. As always I welcome your feedback.“
