Industrial-scale adoption of blockchain technology will increase over the next two years. This is the prediction of bitcoin defender Herman Gref, CEO of Sberbank – the largest Russian bank and the third largest bank in Europe.
Gref said that the hype surrounding the blockchain has declined a bit, but its many uses will be applied in the near future. In other words, blockchain has gone beyond the theory and is ready to be put into practice.
"The hype surrounding technology has passed, and it has entered a phase of industrial development," said Gref via Tass. "The technology will take a year or two to be applied on an industrial scale".
Gref: Blockchain will be commercial in 2019
Gref reaffirmed the prospects he described in February 2017 when he predicted that the blockchain will be marketed in 2019, as reported by CCN.
At the time, Gref noted that a special working group led by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov was exploring the plausible deployment of blockchain technology in "practically all industries" in Russia.
Cryptocurrency will not replace money because of the "centralized role" of the state: CEO of the largest Russian bank https://t.co/eMdBfCtqW8
– CCN (@CryptoCoinsNews) 5 July 2018
Herman Gref was a vocal opponent of the repressive measures of the Russian government on virtual currencies, saying that cryptography is a "great technology".
Gref has urged the Russian authorities to be patient with decentralized currencies by not prohibiting bitcoin or by enacting strict anti-cryptic regulation until its uses are better understood.
That said, Gref does not believe that cryptocurrencies will replace legal currency in today's centralized financial system, as reported by CCN.
Governments abide by centralization
In October 2018, Gref expressed skepticism about the short-term future of the crypt, saying it could be another decade before obtaining traditional adoption.
"I see a great future in cryptocurrency? Not yet, given that the state will not give up its centralized role, it will not allow cryptocurrencies," said Gref through the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Gref said that a 10-year deadline for traditional acceptance is more realistic because the industry is still in its infancy.
"I'm optimistic about 10 years," he said. "Maybe 10 years will be visible beyond the horizon, but so far no state is likely to be ready to separate itself from the centralized model of money supply".
It could be years before Crypto succeeds
The cautious attitude of Herman Gref on bitcoin reflects that of the Argentine businessman Wences Casares, the founder of the bitcoin Xapo wallet.
Xapo – which claims to store $ 10 billion in bitcoins across five continents – is backed by the crypt evangelist Mike Novogratz and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
Casares, who was nicknamed Bitcoin's "Patient Zero" for his role in increasing the crypto profile in Silicon Valley, said it could take anywhere from 7 to 20 years to know if the bitcoin will succeed. Alright then.
We are experiencing an intellectual experiment when it comes to cryptocurrency and blockchain, says Chief Executive Officer Wences Casares https://t.co/gn7fCFkG8f pic.twitter.com/rtCKeQPsU8
– Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) 29 October 2018
Casares, a serial entrepreneur who sits on the board of directors of PayPal, said that crypto is a robust "intellectual experiment" that could fail – but probably will not.
"We could find something in 10 years that makes the system worthless," Casares said. "This is more likely not to happen at this point, the chances of success are better than the chances of failure."
Shutterstock foreground image.
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