“If You’re Involved in Crypto, You Speculatte,” Says William Quigley

William Quigley, a prominent figure in the tech industry and known for his involvement in various crypto ventures, recently shared his insights on regulation, venture capital, and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

With a track record that includes co-founding Tether and WAX, as well as being an early institutional investor in PayPal, Quigley’s experience and technical knowledge have shaped his perspective on the crypto landscape.

Crypto is speculation

When discussing cryptocurrencies, Quigley emphasizes the speculative nature of the market, stating that there is no scientific formula and that theories abound.

He further delves into the fundamental aspects of blockchains, highlighting their decentralized nature, immutability, transparency, and verifiability. These characteristics make it challenging to regulate cryptocurrencies, a point that Quigley acknowledges. Regulators often turn their attention to centralized entities, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, as they navigate the complex task of overseeing the industry.

In Quigley’s view, those who try to differentiate between Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies often lack experience in the industry, relying on superficial knowledge gained from YouTube videos. As someone who has developed applications using various blockchains, Quigley states that Bitcoin’s original design falls short in several aspects, particularly as a payment system. However, he acknowledges Bitcoin’s strengths in other areas.

Quigley focuses on the ongoing development of blockchain technology and its applications, highlighting the need for further improvements to scalability. While blockchains possess valuable characteristics, achieving scalability and affordability remains a challenge. Quigley underscores the importance of decentralized finance (DeFi) as a significant development in the crypto space, particularly in areas such as cross-border trade, payments, and settlement.

FTX tarnished the crypto industry

Regarding recent developments, Quigley expresses his disdain for Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX. Quigley believes that FTX tarnished the crypto industry and points out the risks associated with fraud and deception. He also criticizes the media, politicians, and investors who elevated Bankman-Fried to a spokesperson for the crypto world without thoroughly scrutinizing his background.

According to Quigley, it was primarily large investors who bestowed credibility upon the fallen billionaire, who even graced the covers of Vogue and other major magazines. These investors made substantial investments without thoroughly assessing their prudence.

While some conduct diligent research, Quigley believes that FTX’s case clearly demonstrated a profound failure from the media, politicians, crypto investors, and users who created the perception that FTX was reliable, leading to numerous issues.

Embrace blockchain

Ultimately, Quigley hopes that users will shift their focus from the technology itself to practical applications. For the majority of people, understanding the inner workings of blockchains or the underlying NFT technology is unnecessary. Instead, Quigley urges individuals to embrace blockchain for its unique strengths, emphasizing that its real value lies in the specific use cases it excels at.