Sir Tim Berners-Lee has labelled cryptocurrency “dangerous”.
The inventor of the World Wide Web said the speculative nature of digital currencies makes them a form of gambling which people seek to “get a kick out of”.
“It’s only speculative. Obviously, that’s really dangerous,” Berners-Lee told CNBC’s Beyond The Valley podcast.
“Investing in certain things which are purely speculative isn’t where I want to spend my time.”
The Briton compared the rise of crypto to the DotCom bubble where internet companies around the turn of the century were given hugely inflated valuations, crashing the market.
He added, however, that digital currencies may benefit remittance payments – from one country to another – if immediately converted back into fiat currency at their destination.
Berners-Lee and John Bruce are looking to reshape the internet through startup Inrupt, which aims to give people more control of their data.
He said blockchain isn’t fast or secure enough to be truly Web3, or the next generation of the internet.
Cryptocurrency shorts
Nishad Singh, former director of engineering at bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, is set to plead guilty to fraud charges, reports Bloomberg.
Crypto fund Galois Capital has closed down after losing $40m in the collapse of FTX.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined former NBA basketball star Paul Pierce $1.4m for misleading statements to promote a cryptocurrency exchange.
YGG has raised $13.8m, co-led by A16z Crypto and DWF Labs, to develop soulbound token (SBT). These can be used as proof of someone’s achievements, credentials and reputation in gaming.
Tencent is to scrap its VR hardware project amid profitability concerns, according to Reuters. Microsoft recently canned its industrial metaverse division for similar reasons.
Crypto prices
The overall market cap of the 22,500 coins is at $1.12 trillion at the time of writing (7am UK), up from $1.08tn on Friday morning.
For round-ups of recent cryptocurrency news developments, click here.
For valuations of the top 100 coins by market cap in US dollars, plus 24-hour price change, see below.
