Wikipedia Co-Founder: No One Is Using Bitcoin as Money

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has once again taken aim at Bitcoin. 

In a recent tweet, he stated that the world’s largest cryptocurrency is a “complete failure” as both a currency and a store of value. 

As reported by U.Today, he previously predicted that it would eventually fade into a niche collectible priced under $10,000 by 2050.

Dismantling pro-crypto arguments 

Wales argues that virtually no one actually uses the leading cryptocurrency as money. 

“Bitcoin can’t possibly lose ‘global monetary consensus’—it doesn’t have anything resembling global monetary consensus to lose,” Wales stated. “Virtually no one is using it as money.”

Wales pointed to El Salvador, the first country to formally adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. He has stated that the nation has effectively “abandoned the concept as a failure.”

Wales also dismantled the popular crypto argument that a “hard cap” inherently guarantees price appreciation. He compared Bitcoin to its hard-capped offshoots, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV). 

“Having a hard cap does not imply a growth in price for a fundamentally valueless asset,” he explained. Wales noted that he expects these alternative coins to simply fluctuate at what he calls a “hobbyist level,” rather than accumulating vast wealth over the next few decades.

Hobbyist tinkering 

Despite his harsh criticism, Wales made it clear that he does not believe Bitcoin is destined to collapse completely.

“People who think that Bitcoin is going to zero are likely mistaken,” he wrote earlier this week. 

He acknowledged that the network’s underlying design is robust enough to exist in perpetuity, barring an unforeseen breakdown in cryptography or a surprise 51% attack. Even in the event of a catastrophic network attack, Wales noted that a fork would likely allow the system to carry on.

However, mere survival does not equal success in Wales’ eyes. Instead of becoming the dominant money of the future, he expects Bitcoin’s valuation to eventually drop to reflect its lack of practical utility.

“What it can do, though, is decline to a price consistent with hobbyist tinkering,” Wales concluded. “So I’d suggest a 2050 price target of under $10,000 in today’s dollars. Possibly much lower.”