Robert Herjavec Believes in Blockchain but Wary of Bitcoin Investment
Robert Herjavec Believes in Blockchain but Wary of Bitcoin Investment
Robert Herjavec of Shark Tank, a reality tv show, has reiterated his stance that he is a firm believer in bitcoin and believes that it is the wave of the future that isn’t going away anytime soon. The ace investor and cybersecurity expert said that the blockchains are a revolutionary technology and a complete game changer.
Blockchain Benefits all Humanity
Speaking to Time Money, Herjavec said, “Fast forward 25 years from now, there will be some form of a cryptocurrency that we will pay for electronically, and the concept of cash will go away one day.” He then goes on to explain blockchain technology and adds that it will revolutionize how businesses verify transactions today.
The innovation offers a public ledger of all transactions taking place in a network, using multiple “nodes” to verify a given transaction. These nodes make the blockchain more efficient and reliable where manual verification would be incapable due to a variety of factors. Herjavec said:
“It’s going to have massive benefits for humanity, in all kinds of transactions including cybersecurity.”
The Croatian-Canadian businessman, with a net worth of around $200 million, is the founder of Herjavec Group, a global information security firm.
Hesitancy Despite Bold Claims
The oft-reported idea that Ethereum, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do not have a tangible value, yet makes him cautious. According to him, other financial instruments have some value to it. This point is why investors who have a firm belief in Graham’s value investment philosophy have stayed away from investing in cryptocurrencies.
Warren Buffett hailed as one of the most successful investors of all time, has also advised to not invest in the volatile cryptocurrency market. He believes that there is no underlying value to bitcoin.
On the point of bitcoin hitting an all-time high of $20,000 not too long ago, he said, “When I buy a house and it’s overpriced, I can live in it. There’s some fundamental value. The challenge with cryptocurrency is, it could go to zero.” Speaking about cryptocurrency exchanges, Herjavec added:
“There’s no one exchange that is making them. Exchanges that sell them now can be hacked. We recently saw the largest breach ever.”
Furthermore, cryptocurrency has been widely used for illicit activities in the past. It should be mentioned that bleeding edge technology, including the internet, has always found a home in illicit affairs. Of course, these items of contention should be addressed, but it is critical to balance both the advantages and disadvantages, especially if humanity is at stake according to the investor.
“Cryptocurrency is the choice of funding and transactions for hackers. And since we’re the good guys, I can’t get behind [that]. If there was no cryptocurrency, much of the large hacks that we’re seeing today wouldn’t exist,” says Herjavec.
Mark Cuban, who is also a Shark on the same show along with Herjavec, believes that the blockchain is a great platform for the future.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the Dallas Mavericks owner confirmed that he has been investing in bitcoin and is a keen follower and investor in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) industry. Cuban also believes that bitcoin is neither a fraud nor a Ponzi scheme.