November 22, 2024
Startups
Most digital coins will lose value: BCG Digital Ventures CEO
[THE INVESTOR] Most cryptocurrencies will go out of business, according to Jeff Schumacher, the founder and CEO of Boston Consulting Group’s Digital Ventures, a unique VC that both focuses on both investing and inventing.
Schumacher, who was in Seoul on Feb.9 at Hyundai Card’s co-working space Studio Black to talk about upcoming industry disruptions, said that “between 95 to 99 percent of digital coins will be worth nothing within 18 months.”
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Jeff Schumacher speaking at Studio Black on Feb.9. |
The comments touched a nerve, as they come as Korean digital coin investors are suffering from the recent burst in the so-called ”kimchi premium,” referring to how cryptocurrency prices were much higher here compared to elsewhere in the world.
The crash was partially triggered by stepped up government regulations, and partially by a global downturn.
Addressing entrepreneurs, Schumacher said they should be aware of the speed and the amount of innovation they will face.
“There are twice as many companies as there were five years ago and three tims of funding. So dthe isruption you’re going to see five years from today is going to go up twice and three times what we’re seeing today,” said Schumacher, who believes Uber will eventually “go away.”
Some of the disruptions will occur in the process of disintermediating the intermediaries on the blockchain technology, which he called the third generation of platforms following brick and mortar stores and digital ones. Intermediaries including traditional financial institutions and even companies like Uber or Facebook will be challenged by this change in the next 12 months, he said.
This is because a new generation of protocol, which goes beyond the idea of currencies and initial coin offerings, will be spurred as many of the limitations of blockchain technology, such as speed and security are solved by new protocols, the CEO added.
BCG Digital Ventures is a big supporter of such platforms and is behind Dfinity, which raised US$61 million in a funding round that closed on Feb. 7. A variety of services starting from a diamond exchange this June is to be launched by Digital Ventures.
By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)
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