- Former Bitfury CEO Brian Brooks believes XRP’s price volatility is as irrelevant as Google’s early stock fluctuations.
- Brooks argues that cryptocurrencies should be seen as long-term investments in decentralized financial systems.
Former Bitfury CEO Brian Brooks recently shared his views on cryptocurrency volatility, particularly XRP, during a discussion at The Aspen Institute. He pointed out that the volatility of digital assets such as XRP is virtually equivalent to the initial volatility of Google’s stocks. Brooks has noted that concentrating on the daily price changes is counterproductive to the overall goal of cryptocurrencies, which is to disrupt the current financial system.
According to Brooks, the true value of cryptocurrencies is to remove intermediaries and provide users with a Decentralized Financial System. He likened cryptocurrencies to internet stocks, saying that early investors in Google were not concerned with price fluctuations, but rather, they were investing in the future of digital networks. Likewise, he stated that buying cryptocurrencies shows trust in the expansion of decentralized finance solutions.
Brooks Challenges Common Misconceptions About Cryptocurrencies
Brooks identified what he considers a misperception about cryptocurrencies, and that is their reliance on traditional currencies such as the U.S. dollar. He said that such thinking is too restrictive and that cryptocurrencies are more than just digital equivalents of conventional money. Rather, they are solutions for building a new, more decentralized financial architecture.
“The biggest misunderstanding of this whole discussion is the belief that if crypto is not doing a great job of replacing the US dollar, then it’s failing in its mission,” Brooks stated. He explained that the inherent volatility of cryptocurrencies is not their primary concern and that the price swings should not be seen as a sign of their failure.
Brooks also expanded on this, stating that Google’s early stock price fluctuations should not be used to gauge the company’s future, in the same way that one cannot use the fluctuation of cryptocurrencies such as XRP. He said that the worth of these digital assets is in developing new and independent financial systems and not in the stability of their prices in the short term.
Ripple Executive Views Market Volatility as Opportunity for Growth
The discussion also touched on the current state of the crypto market. Brooks made these remarks in the wake of a market downturn that saw major losses, particularly in coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP.
Brooks Entwistle, a senior vice president at Ripple, echoed this sentiment, arguing that fluctuations are not only inevitable but also beneficial for the industry. He stated that every bear market is a chance to create and outline the usage of digital assets, stating that now is the perfect time for that.
“Winter time is a fabulous time to build businesses and to really define use cases for digital assets,” Entwistle remarked. He highlighted that the industry’s focus should be on long-term development rather than short-term price movements.
Market analyst Collin Brown also weighed in on the discussion, cautioning investors to look beyond the current price action of XRP. Brown noted that investors should look beyond the current price fluctuations and pay attention to the growing use of decentralized finance.
