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Bill Gates admits the Bitcoin technology is Key at SIBOS 2014



Bitcoin has received another advocate in the form of Bill Gates who has now updated his stance on Bitcoin. Earlier, he called the digital currency a technological tour-de-force a month or so ago; however, now he believes that the digital currency is a revolutionary technology and key. He was participating in SIBOS 2014 at Boston.

Talking to Bloomberg TV’s Erik Schatzker, Bill Gates admitted said that the Bitcoin technology is key. The statement from the Microsoft founder is an indication that he no longer considers Bitcoin merely a technological tour-de-force but more than that. Bill Gates gave the final speech at SIBOS 2014, the annual SWIFT banking conference.

The event is being held this year in Boston and attracting participants from financial and banking services industry. In his speech, Bill Gates shared his vast well of experience with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations’ efforts to combat financial inequality around the world and also talked about the promising digital currency technology.

Bill Gates also talked about the promise of digital financial services and how the world’s existing financial institutions should leverage them to provide services to the developing world. It is to be noted that some Bitcoin exchanges are trying to provide services focused to meet the requirements from clients in Africa and from his statement, it looks this is what he wants.

Bloomberg News‘ Schatzker asked candid questions whether or not Bitcoin fits the bill; however, Bill Gates still marked worries about Bitcoin’s use in terrorism and money laundering. Thus, so far from his statements about Bitcoin, it is clear that he now recognizes the promise of Blockchain technology.

Bitcoin is better than Traditional Currency for International Transactions

Eric Schatzker asked about the need to move money from place to place and the cost to do so i.e. the overhead vis-à-vis Bitcoin. Answering to the question Bill Gates said that Bitcoin is exciting because it shows how cheap it can be. According to him Bitcoin is better than currency in that users don’t have to be physically in the same place and of course for large transactions currency can get pretty inconvenient.

He added that the customers that are being talked about aren’t trying to be anonymous. In fact, they are willing to be known so the Bitcoin technology is key and they could add to it or they could build a similar technology where there’s enough attribution that people feel comfortable this is nothing to do with terrorism or any type of money laundering.


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