Jack Ma — the billionaire founder of China’s online retail juggernaut Alibaba — is less than convinced about Bitcoin’s value proposition.
Ma says that Bitcoin may be in a bubble, in comments made at the launch of his Blockchain-transfers between Hong Kong and the Philippines.
It was launched by Gcash — a joint venture between the Alibaba-owned Ant Financial and the Philippines’ Globe Telecom — along with Standard Chartered bank.
Ma says to reporters at the launch that he believes in the potential of Blockchain technology and believes that “Blockchain technology could change our world more than people imagine,” and Ma says in Hong Kong. “Bitcoin, however, could be a bubble.”
Ma also critisiced banks for charging huge amount of fees on international transactions — a process which is a target for disruption by advocates of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
“Traditional financial institutions serve 20% people and make 80% of profits. New financial institutions should service 80%, and make 20% of profit,” said Jack Ma.
At that time, Bitcoin was trading in a range between $7-8000. The crypto-currency faced more downward pressure in June and briefly dipped below $6,000 over the weekend before rallying.
He also added that Blockchain represents a solution for privacy and security, as well as processing capabilities for the millions of transactions that companies like Alibaba completes each day.
Ma’s latest views on Bitcoin are almost a direct replica of comments he made last month at the World Intelligence Congress held in Tianjin, China. “there is no bubble for Blockchain, but there’s a Bitcoin bubble”.
Ma’s views are representative of the diverse opinions towards Bitcoin among the world’s financial elite. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel believes in it, while Warren Buffett thinks its rat poison.
The South China Morning Post reported that Alibaba made the most Blockchain patent applications in the world last year with 43, and at second place we have Bank of America with 33.
Conclusion - As we know that Jack Ma is the CEO of the largest online retail sector “Alibaba”, we should know that his words can bring a huge change in the price of BTC. He supports Blockchain technology but also agrees with the fact that Bitcoin is a bubble.
