The head of a major Chinese investment bank has claimed bitcoin isn’t as significant as its underlying blockchain technology.
Fan Bao, chief executive of investment bank China Renaissance, believes bitcoin is “getting a little bit bubblish” following its recent all-time highs above $6,200, up from $1,000 at the turn of the year.
“Obviously, right now it’s [bitcoin price] getting a little bit hot, like the weather outside,” Bao said an interview with CNBC recorded in Saudi Arabia. “[It’s] getting a little bit bubblish.”
Instead, the investment banker is more bullish about blockchain, the underlying technology powering cryptocurrencides like bitcoin.
Referencing blockchain technology separately from bitcoin, Bao went on to state:
I think blockchain is a very exciting technology, probably the most disruptive technology in our industry, the financial services industry. Bitcoin is just one application of [blockchain technology].
Bao’s comments come at a time when bitcoin is firmly in the mainstream with everyone from heads of states like Putin to Wall Street banks’ chiefs offering an opinion on decentralized cryptocurrencies that function independently from state controls. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $6,200 a week ago.
Meanwhile, multiple governments around the world are either researching or already developing blockchain-based applications for multiple industries including trade finance, logistics, land registry, pensions and more.