The blockchain/crypto week in quotes

“You just want to make sure that you don’t get caught in the (Libra) crossfire. It is important to me that when regulators start asking questions that they don’t lump us into one big bucket.” Brad Garlinghouse, CEO, Ripple

“Bitcoin could reach $356,000 in a couple of years.” Pantera Capital Founder Dan Morehead

“Libra is going to be open to massive fraud.” Damian Collins, Chair of the House of Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

“We have signed a non-binding letter of intent to join Libra. We’re one of – I think it’s 27 companies that have expressed that interest. So no one has yet officially joined.” Alfred F. Kelly Jr., CEO of Visa

“Regulation of Libra should be as technology neutral as possible.” Germany’s Bundesbank

“We’re putting regulation before the innovation. Facebook has only just announced Libra; they haven’t even been able to ship it yet, and the regulators are all over them.” Billionaire investor Tim Draper 

“I hereby testify, by written letter, I am the genuine and only originator/creator of the genesis block of the Bitcoin blockchain. I used the handle Satoshi Nakamoto and mail Satoshin@GMX.com to write and publish the whitepaper Bitcoin.” Debo Jurgen Etienne Guido

“It is hugely encouraging that recognisable companies like Facebook are joining the crypto space. The fact that within just one month of its unveiling, 16% of respondents have heard of Libra showcases the power which mainstream companies have to bring knowledge of, and interest in, the merits of blockchain and cryptocurrencies to the masses. If just 16% of Facebook’s users were to enter into the cryptocurrency market, this would represent almost 381 million entries to the industry, an increase of almost 30% of those already active in the market.

While the benefits of increased awareness of cryptocurrencies is certainly a potential boon to the space, we must remain cautious about Libra. Facebook itself has no experience operating as a financial institution and have yet to prove that it has learned from data security failures from past Facebook incidents. Ignoring the clear regulatory hurdles to Libra’s success; the potential privacy problems, should the Facebook servers be victim to an attack, would be catastrophic. Facebook will have to learn from its own past experiences before it is in a position to drive crypto adoption forward.” Michael Ou, Founder and CEO, CoolBitX