Jon Matonis, Bitcoin Foundation Co-founder Says Bitcoin Is The ‘Pin to Pop’ the Financial Bubble

During a recent interview with the Business Insider at the Innovate Finance conference in London, Jon Matonis - a senior Bitcoin advocate and co-founder of the Bitcoin foundation heavily criticized Bitcoin and crypto critics by completely dismissing out the fears of any possible bubble in the crypto markets.

Matonis said that instead of pointing fingers at the crypto markets, the central banks should rather look at the bond and the stock markets around the world that have been artificially inflated.

Matonis said: "To the people who say bitcoin's a bubble, I would say bitcoin is the pin that's going to pop the bubble. The bubble is the insane bond markets and the fake equity markets that are propped up by the central banks. Those are the bubbles."

He further stated that we are entering a post legal-tender age that is no more driven by a central bank and that decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will be at the core to power this shift. Matonis has worked in the past with organizations like Visa and Japanese bank Sumitomo before setting up the Bitcoin Foundation in 2012. This is a non-profit organization and is created with the aim to compensate Bitcoin developers for their work in developing the bitcoin protocol.

When asked about some big banking giants like Goldman Sachs entering the crypto space, Matonis believes that it’s “wonderful.” He further said: “I think it’s fabulous that they’re getting into it because it brings in new liquidity. They’re going to develop futures markets, options markets, I even think you’re going to start to see interest rate markets around bitcoin. We’re used to hearing things about Libor, the index for bitcoin interest rates is Bibor.”

He also said that the entry of big organizations into the crypto space will bring-in more maturity and also help in reducing the volatility. Matonis also recognized Bitcoin to be the third-model for startups to raise funds. He said: "They actually issue utility tokens into the market that don't represent equity, they don't represent debt, they represent a negotiable claim on the success of the token which is in effect, hopefully, linked to the success of the company. This is an entirely new model and it doesn't fit in any of the regulator's boxes.”

Matonis also believes that regulatory bodies from around the globe should refrain from interfering into crypto markets. He said: "I think we should operate in an environment of caveat emptor, let the buyer do his research. This hopefully has forced a lot of investors to do more research. No one is forcing them to invest in ICOs [initial coin offerings]. If you're worried about the risk, just walk away.”

He also added: "The regulators are so confused, not just in Europe but in North America as well. They're used to fundraising models that involve selling debt or selling equity."