Is Bitcoin Too Big To Fail?

Bitcoin has seen a lot of criticism over the past year, with many turning a skeptical eye to the cryptocurrency that exploded in 2013. Dubbed the worst currency investment in 2014, bitcoin has been regarded as an unstable, unsafe currency that is likely to be phased out. However, big names involved in the cryptocurrency’s forward momentum got together this week at the O’Reilly Bitcoin Summit in San Francisco, California and discussed why those claims may not be strictly true.

Related Link: Bitcoin Push Continues Despite Falling Value

Growth Equals Success

Keith Rabois, whose experience in startup leadership ranges from LinkedIn Corp LNKD to PayPal, Inc., drew a parallel between the rising success of bitcoin and his own experience working at PayPal. At the time the online payment service was planning to go public, Rabbis said, Louisiana regulators claimed that the company was providing banking services without a license.

When user data showed that a significant portion of Louisiana voters were already actively using the service, politicians pushing the issue were unwilling to press further -- a nod to the power of growth among the public. Bitcoin’s growing popularity has seen a similar shift of opinion, especially with the New York Stock Exchange’s investment in Coinbase’s regulated bitcoin exchange. In Rabois’ view, the currency’s widening adoption could make it similarly too big to fail.

Gold 2.0

Rabois isn’t the only one who thinks bitcoin is becoming too big to fail. Wences Casares, the founder of bitcoin wallet and vault Xapo, called bitcoin the “best form of money we’ve ever seen.” He said he sees the currency’s user base expanding to roughly 150 million in the next two or three years, as investors begin to see that the bitcoin is becoming “Gold 2.0”.