It’s awful when something you’ve created is being used in a bad way, and C++ software language creator Bjarne Stroustrup is feeling this firsthand, but how accurate are his thoughts?
Stroustrup: Not a Big Bitcoin Fan
Stroustrup is the builder of C++, which is a programming system that’s used to power all kinds of new software platforms – including bitcoin mining. In a recent interview, the tech genius explained that while he’s very proud of his creation on an individual level, he has no control over its uses and doesn’t always like what C++ has given rise to.
Case in point: bitcoin mining, he says, is extremely hazardous to the environment. He states that the process of extracting new coins utilizes as much energy as Switzerland uses to power every one of its homes. Furthermore, he also explains that bitcoin itself is used primarily to benefit criminals, and he’s none too thrilled about the results he’s been witnessing as of late as bitcoin is built on C++.
He explains:
You try to improve the tool by looking at how it’s being used, and when people cut their fingers off and try and stop that from happening. But really, you have no control over how something is used… So, I’m very happy and proud of some of the things [that] C++ is being used [for], and some of the things I wish people wouldn’t do. Bitcoin mining being my favorite example. [It] uses as much energy as Switzerland and mostly serves criminals.
To an extent, it can be argued that bitcoin is utilized for much more than criminal enterprises, now. For one thing, Bakkt – the new crypto trading platform owned by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) – is giving institutional players an opportunity to trade bitcoin futures contracts, which could potentially bring a whole new wave of legitimacy not only to the coin, but to the space it’s in.
Granted more professional traders are using cryptocurrency as a means of adding to and growing their wealth, we’re likely to see bitcoin considered a solid trading and investment tool. In addition, Bakkt is also paving the way for retailers such as Starbucks to begin accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment.
There’s More to BTC…
This has been crypto’s biggest goal all along. Most digital currencies were designed to be used as means of paying for goods and services. However, their volatility has often gotten in the way and prevented this from happening. If you use BTC to pay for $50-worth of goods, but tomorrow the price goes down, you’ll still walk off with all your items. The business accepting the payment, however, will lose money.
Granted bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be utilized as much as USD to pay for items in the future, perhaps some of that volatility will finally disappear.
