Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of VC firm Social Capital, has proposed that bitcoin (BTC) is the single best hedge against the traditional financial system.

During a panel on the CNBC show Squawk Box on July 9, Chamath — a stakeholder and board member of the Golden State Warriors NBA Team, and an early Facebook executive to boot — elaborated his perspective on the cryptocurrency, saying:

“It [bitcoin] is the single best hedge against the traditional financial infrastructure. Whether you support fiscal and monetary policy or not, it doesn’t matter: this is the shmuck insurance under your mattress.”

In response to Chamath’s remarks, his CNBC hosts admitted to having lagged behind in recognizing the significance of cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology:

“Bitcoin was probably trading at around $9,000 when I realized that distributed ledgers probably imbue more inherent value on something than a government does,” one remarked.

As reported earlier this week, bitcoin’s bullish breakthrough past the $13,000 mark — as of press time — comes hot on the heels of bleak news for the traditional banking world.

Deutsche Bank revealed plans to axe an expected ~18,000 jobs and carry out a 40% reduction of the risk-weighted assets currently allocated to its trading operations, sparking commentators to observe that DB remains “built for the old world” — unlike cryptocurrencies.