February 15, 2026

Capitalizations Index – B ∞/21M

V. Shankar of Gateway: “Bitcoin Has Finally Proven It’s not a Viable Investment”

V. Shankar of gateway: “bitcoin has finally proven it’s not a viable investment”

V. Shankar of Gateway: “Bitcoin Has Finally Proven It’s not a Viable Investment”

V. Shankar of gateway: “bitcoin has finally proven it’s not a viable investment”

In late 2017 when the price of bitcoin and other digital assets embarked on a journey to the moon and FOMO  swept across the crypto space, Viswanathan Shankar, the CEO of Gateway Partners Limited, a Cayman-based private equity firm that invests in growth opportunities across a number of continents reportedly warned investors to “steer clear” from cryptos.

With the blockchain-based digital assets price crash of 2018 that saw the pioneer cryptocurrency shed more than 80 percent of its nearly $20,000 value two years ago, the Gateway chief now boasts that his predictions have come to pass, reported Nikkei Asian Review on January 3, 2019.

Hodl Biscuits, not BTC; Cryptos Have Potentials but too Risky

Per sources close to the matter, Shankar warned investors in 2017 to be wary of pumping their hard earned money into three major portfolios, i.e., BTC, Argentina bonds, and Tesla, three investments for which he coined the “BAT” acronym.

While the experienced tycoon admitted he believes distributed ledger technology (DLT) could revolutionize the global financial system, he, however, made it clear that the super volatile nature of cryptoassets makes it a no-go area for him and his firm.

“Our investment strategy focuses on the basics, investing in sectors that fulfill people’s primary needs,” Shankar stated, adding:

advertisement

“I’m not against cryptos, and I firmly believe financial transactions will be transformed by technology at every level. But digital assets are too risky and I don’t see the essence.”

Crypto Adoption Steadily Increasing

Of a truth, the early adopters of BTC who joined the cryptocurrency movement before 2017 and even those who caught the fever at the beginning of 2017, are still very much in the green, as the flagship cryptoasset has gained more than 3,000 percent since its launch a decade ago.

However, Shankar and several other heavyweights in the traditional finance industry still see nothing good in the burgeoning digital asset class, with highly reputed businessman, Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, leading the crypto haters bandwagon.

Even with the cryptocurrency market downturn of 2018, it’s worth noting that a significant number of forward-thinking startups integrated digital assets into their operations, with still others planning to join the movement this 2019.

In December 2018, BTCManager informed that Triip, a Singaporean global travel platform had added ether (ETH) and TomoChain (TOMO) to its list of payment options.

Published at Thu, 03 Jan 2019 21:00:16 +0000

Previous Article

Circle’s OTC Crypto Trading Desk Saw $24 Billion in Volume in 2018

Next Article

Dow Jones and Greater Stock Market Having a ‘Mid-Life Crisis’: Tom Lee

You might be interested in …

Extremely rare rubies | game of stones

Extremely Rare Rubies | Game of Stones

Extremely Rare Rubies | Game of Stones Don Kogen meets with a local man in Thailand to explore the possibility of finding a cache of extremely rare sunset rubies in the vicinity. | For more […]

Adam Back: Blockstream ‘Has No Patents Related To SegWit’

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has refuted claims by Swedish Pirate Party founder Rick Falkvinge that the company “has patents in SegWit.”


 Pirate Party’s Falkvinge: Blockstream SegWit Support Driven By Patents

In a Twitter response Monday, Back stated Blockstream “does not have any patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications, or anything similar, related to segwit.”

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Falkvinge, who is a staunch supporter of bigger blocks proposed by rival scaling solution campaigners bitcoin Unlimited, had earlier Monday released a dedicated post on his website arguing Blockstream’s SegWit support was for its own interests.

“Based on Blockstream’s behavior in the bitcoin community, I have become absolutely certain that Segwit contains patents that Blockstream and/or their owners have planned to use offensively,” he wrote.

Falkvinge Accuses Blockstream Of ‘Goalpost Moving’

The post accuses Blockstream of “classic goalpost moving” and employing behavior that “only makes sense” under a patent battle.

Falkvinge continues:

…Based on Blockstream’s behavior, I can say with dead certainty that I’ve seen this exact behavior many times in the past, and it’s always when somebody has a dual set of reasons – one for presentation and palate and another that drives the actual course of action.

Back’s Twitter retort appears to be lifted from previous comments on Reddit left by core developer Greg Maxwell.Maxwell

“As is the case for other major protocol features, the bitcoin developers worked carefully to not create patent complications. Segwit was a large-scale collaboration across the community, which included people who work for Blockstream among its many contributors,” he continued.

Moreover, because the public disclosure of segwit was more than a year ago, we could not apply for patents now.

Maxwell reiterated that Falkvinge had previously made similar allegations, which he had addressed separately.

“In short, Rick Falkvinge’s allegations are entirely without merit and are supported by nothing more than pure speculation which had already been debunked,” he concluded.

A Clash Of Ideals?

Falkvinge meanwhile has remained bullish on bitcoin publicly, telling RT in February he expected bitcoin could take over up to 10% of the foreign exchange market.

In his post, however, a clear distinction is drawn between the classic bitcoin ethos and that of Blockstream.

The owners of Blockstream are the classic financial institutions […] that have everything to lose from cryptocurrency gaining ground,” he wrote.

The conclusion is unescapable (sic) here: Blockstream’s constant goalpost shifting has had the underlying goal to have Blockstream’s owners effectively own bitcoin through patent encumbrance.

What do you think about Rick Falkvinge’s claims about Blockstream? Let us know in the comments below!


Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter

The post Adam Back: Blockstream ‘Has No Patents Related To SegWit’ appeared first on Bitcoinist.com.