Former Obama Adviser: Bitcoin Makes Finance World "Ripe for Disruption"

Another major figure in economics has weighed in on Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term, this time Larry Summers- former adviser to Barack Obama, Harvard President and World Bank chief economist.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, he focused on the historical lessons learned with other technologies and that while Bitcoin is still far from ideal as a mainstream currency, it would be a "serious mistake" for it to be written off as "ill-conceived or illegitimate".

Other notable figures (although not necessarily as knowledgable on the subject) have taken more extreme views on cryptocurrency. Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia called upon the government to "prohibit this dangerous currency", while Texas' Steve Stockman prepared a draft bill for the House of Representatives calling for virtual currency to be recognized as currency, not property, following the recent IRS tax ruling.

Summers argued that the current financial system is inefficient. Despite the fact that it relies so heavily upon information technology, “it has not been disrupted as the distribution of books or clothing has been” by such technology. He's not sure if Bitcoin will or won't succeed in the future, but he is "much more confident that the world of Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term will look very different 20 years from now". It is therefore now "ripe for disruption".

In his signature argument, he continues:

“The people who rejected the Internet as a curiosity for scientists were on the wrong side of history, the people who rejected digital photography as really an artificial thing were on the wrong side of history, and the people who felt that non-gimmicky tennis racquets were made with wood were on the wrong side of history. So it seems to me that the people who confidently reject all the innovation here [in new payment and monetary systems] are on the wrong side of history.”

He also cites the increasingly common argument of Bitcoin's vastly more efficient and less expensive capabilities for transferring money internationally, which even officials from the Bank of Canada acknowledged while dismissing Bitcoin.