Tech entrepreneur and bitcoin guru Wences Casares saw his family lose their entire wealth three times in Argentina because of hyperinflation, a currency collapse and confiscation.

“[There’s] more people in the world who need a currency they can trust than the opposite,” Casares told

Dan Morehead, the ex-head of macro trading at Tiger Management, in a new interview on RealVision Television, a subscription financial news service.

Those instances are what ultimately led him to the digital cryptocurrency bitcoin.

Casares created Argentina’s first internet provider and later sold his online brokerage firm to Banco Santander for $750 million in 2000. He is now a star of the Silicon Valley bitcoin scene, heading Xapo, a company that provides a bitcoin wallet and storage vault.

The real “a-ha” moment for bitcoin happened when he was planning a trip with a group of childhood friends back in Argentina.

‘I was very sceptical’

“We all had to chip in some money. They were all in Argentina except me, I’m here in California. They all got together and gave the cash to one of them. And I was trying to find a way to send money. At the time, PayPal had to stop sending money to Argentina and wire transfers were not working because of the currency control.”

That’s when one of his friends suggested using bitcoin.

“I was very sceptical because this particular friend of mine is not particularly tech savvy or financially sophisticated.”

Casares did some research online and arranged a meeting in a Palo Alto cafe with someone he connected with on Craigslist. He gave the man cash and got some bitcoin in return. He immediately sent the bitcoin to his friend in Argentina.

“By the time I made it back to the office my friend had sold it for pesos in Argentina. I was like, ‘Wow that’s incredible. It’s like magic.'”

Casares compared the power of bitcoin in the developing world to the mobile phone.

“I think it’s obvious the mobile phone had a lot more impact in developing world than the developed world because most phones in the developing world are mobile phones. If it weren’t for mobile phones the developing world would not be communicating so it really changed the lives of people in emerging markets.”

That’s not to say that mobile phones aren’t important in the developed world though. Bitcoin will be important there too, Casares said.

“It’s easier to see how [bitcoin can be] transformative and it can change the lives of people in emerging markets, but it also has an important role to play in the developed world.”

Watch the teaser below. You can watch the full interview by subscribing to RealVision:

Please enable JavaScript to watch this video.

NOW WATCH: What you need to know before going into business with family



Business Insider Emails & Alerts Site highlights each day to your inbox. Email Address Join

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.