Billionaire and Ex-Google CEO, Eric Schmidt is a blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiast. He states that Ethereum could become a powerful platform whose potential is “off-the-charts.” He made the remarks during a live event with economist Tyler Cowen hosted by Village Global in San Francisco.

Ethereum has major potential according to Schmidt

Village Global invited 150+ speakers for its event in September, and they wrote the following about the well-known Eric Schmidt.

“Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and Executive Chairman at Alphabet, is one of the most influential technology executives in the world. At Village Global, we are honored to have him among the small group of LP luminaries whose financial capital and engagement power our network of founders.”

The conversations were not only about blockchain but ranged from the future of technology, corporate governance reform, Google’s hiring practices to cryptocurrencies. Schmidt was asked of his view of blockchain and if he thought it was under- or overrated. He gave a divided answer depending on what aspects you take into account.

“In the public format, overrated. In its technical use, underrated,” he said. “Today, blockchain is a great platform for bitcoin and other currencies. And it’s a great platform for private banking transactions where people don’t trust each other.”

Schmidt argues that even though many blockchain projects are interesting, Ethereum is the most interesting. It has the potential to revolutionize businesses and society.

“I think the most interesting stuff that’s going on is the beginning of execution on top of the blockchain. The most obvious example is the capability of Ethereum. And if Ethereum can manage to figure out a way to do global synchronization of that activity, it can become a pretty powerful platform. That’s a new invention.”

Is Ethereum powerful enough?

Ethereum is facing a scalability issue and can only verify around 20 transactions per second. Researchers are, however, looking at ways for the blockchain to perform over 17,000 transactions per second. The price of Ethereum is currently around $200, and there have been many predictions for where the price may end up. Fundstrat’s Head of Research, Tom Lee, has made the rounds with a fresh bullish prediction for ethereum and stated that he could see ethereum around $1,900 in 2019.

Most recent news by Vitalik Buterin reveals that Ethereum 2.0 might not be too far away. The founder states that the upgrade could be a new chapter for Ethereum.

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