Big Tech Execs and Bitcoin: Skype Co-Founder Keeps Personal Wealth in Crypto, Intercom President ‘Jumps Firmly on the Bitcoin Wagon’

This week, two well-known tech executives revealed that they dabbled in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In a recent interview, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn explained that he kept bitcoin and ethereum in his personal finances, while Intercom co-founder Eoghan McCabe tweeted on Sunday that he “jumped firmly on the bitcoin bandwagon”.

In 2020, a number of famous tech executives and CEOs of giant companies revealed they are fascinated by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum. On Friday, the co-founder of the telecommunications application Skype discussed a couple of donations he has made in the past using ethereum and bitcoin. Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn sent 350 ETH ($ 158k) to the London-based organization Faculty AI and in March 2020, Tallinn donated 50 BTC ($ 850k) to the group.

Faculty AI won $ 800,000 from the UK Home Office to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) system that detects terrorism through social media. During his interview, Tallinn explained that the reason he donated cryptocurrency to the organization is because it retains most of its cryptocurrency wealth.

He chose to donate the cryptocurrency directly because if he cashed in the digital assets he would be responsible for the capital gains. According to the recent interview, Faculty AI’s annual accounts find that the company sold around $ 144,000 from Ethereum stash in 2019.

After the interview with Tallinn, another well-known executive told his Twitter followers on Sunday that he had entered the bitcoin space. On November 15, 2020, the president and co-founder of Intercom, a well-known American software company, tweeted about the decentralized bitcoin crypto asset. Intercom’s Eoghan McCabe revealed that he holds bitcoin after playing with the digital currency for years.

“I would like to announce that after years of delight, I have jumped firmly on the Bitcoin bandwagon”, McCabe tweeted. In a tweet that followed, McCabe noted that he had listened to the Pomp Podcast and one in particular featuring the Bitcoin evangelist. Robert Breedlove. “Crazy love for all Bitcoin fanatics,” McCabe added in another tweet. A large number of bitcoiners welcomed McCabe into space and some individuals she told him which was still in the early stage of bitcoin adoption.

The Tallinn and McCabe news follows a string of prominent executives entering the cryptocurrency space and discussing the benefits of bitcoin in 2020. Executives like billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, the “King of Bonds” Jeffrey Gundlach, well-known fund manager Bill Miller, billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones and even actor Kevin Hart have jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon this year. Alongside this, US Senator Cynthia Lummis sees a lot of “promise” when it comes to the innovation provided by the crypto economy.

Traditional cryptocurrency opponents are also starting to discuss bitcoin in a more positive way. The recent analysis by JPMorgan, formerly dubious about bitcoin, shows that institutional interest has shifted from gold-traded funds (ETFs) to bitcoins. Notorious BTC hater, Nouriel Roubini (“Dr. Doom”), admitted that BTC could be a store of value in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance. With the way things are going, many more popular tech luminaries and investors are likely to join the cryptocurrency revolution. And maybe some former enemies too.

What do you think of Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn who holds most of his personal wealth in cryptocurrencies and the Intercom president’s recent dip in bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons