Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "Ethereum has enormous potential"

Eric Schmidt, billionaire and former CEO of Google, stated during a live event with economist Tyler Cowen that he thinks Ethereum is a powerful platform with enormous potential.

During the conversation with Cowen, held in San Francisco, the former Google CEO discussed a variety of topics, including the future of technology, corporate governance reforms, Google's recruitment practices and the Internet's branching.

When Eric Schmidt was asked if he thinks blockchain was overestimated or underestimated, he gave the following answer:

“In general adoption, overestimated. In technological use, underestimated. Today, blockchain is a great platform for Bitcoin (BTC) and other currencies. And it is a great platform for private banking transactions where people do not trust each other.”

Schmidt is mainly enthusiastic about Ethereum (ETH) and believes that it can be a revolution for business and society:

“I think the most interesting thing that is happening right now is the start of action on the blockchain. The most obvious example is the ability of Ether, and if Ethereum manages to find a way to achieve global synchronization. It is a pretty powerful platform, that is really a new invention.”

It was already known that Schmidt is a fan of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. In 2014 Schmidt spoke about Bitcoin and already saw enormous potential:

“Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic performance. The ability to make something that is not replicable in the digital world has tremendous value. The Bitcoin architecture, literally the ability to have ledgers that can not be replicated, is an amazing progress. Many people will build companies there.”

Eric Schmidt first knew about Bitcoin in 2011 when Julian Assange from Wikileaks introduced it to him. Assange told Schmidt that he should purchase Bitcoin:

“You should be an 'early adopter' because your Bitcoins will be worth a lot of money one day.”

Not that the former CEO needs money since he has a net worth of $13.4 billion, but it made him interested in the technology.

Recently Google's current CEO, Sundar Pichai, and co-founder Sergey Brin shared that they are mining Ethereum with their sons.

The interview with Eric Schmidt: