TLDR
- Jimmy Wales, the co – founder of Wikipedia, described Bitcoin as a “complete failure” when it comes to being a currency and a store of value.
- He forecasts that by 2050, the value of Bitcoin will drop below $10,000 in today’s dollars.
- Wales doesn’t anticipate Bitcoin to reach a value of zero, highlighting its robust design.
- He regarded institutional support as driven by investment rather than ideology and stated that AI bots aren’t adopting cryptocurrencies in significant numbers.
- Wales contends that practical obstacles such as fees, volatility, and low acceptance stop Bitcoin from becoming a mainstream currency.
This week, Wikipedia co – founder Jimmy Wales made news after posting a series of comments on X, where he called Bitcoin a “complete failure” as a currency.
People who believe that Bitcoin will reach a value of zero are probably wrong. The design is strong enough that it will continue to exist indefinitely, unless there’s an unforeseen breakdown in cryptography or a surprise 51% attack (even then, I think a fork would continue).…
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales)
Wales has been skeptical about Bitcoin for years. In 2020, he said he saw no convincing reason to use it, even though he wasn’t ideologically against it.
His latest comments came after X users argued that Bitcoin’s limited supply makes it better than gold and that the growth of digital ecosystems would lead more people to adopt cryptocurrencies.
Wales challenged both claims. He said Bitcoin isn’t a successful currency and described it as “at best, a speculative asset.”
He also rejected the idea that artificial intelligence is driving the adoption of cryptocurrencies. “AI bots aren’t adopting crypto in significant numbers,” he wrote.
Despite his criticism, Wales didn’t predict a total collapse of Bitcoin. He said those expecting it to reach zero are “likely mistaken,” pointing to the strength of its underlying design.
He even suggested that in case of a major network attack, the system would likely survive through a software fork.
This puts Wales in an unusual position – being critical of Bitcoin’s future but not calling for its end.
His long – term price prediction was still bearish. “I’d suggest a price target of under $10,000 in today’s dollars by 2050. It could be much lower,” he wrote.
Why Wales Says Bitcoin Fails as Everyday Money
Wales presented a practical argument against Bitcoin using a simple example. As a UK resident, he said he can instantly send £10 to a friend through a bank without any fees.
Doing the same with Bitcoin, he said, would involve buying the asset, paying a spread, sending it with network fees, and converting it back to pounds – paying another spread in the process.
He also addressed the comparison some users made between the current skepticism about Bitcoin and the early doubts about the internet. Wales said he doesn’t think this comparison is valid.
How Wales Views Gold vs Bitcoin
Wales said gold is different from Bitcoin because it has physical uses outside of finance and doesn’t require ongoing network costs to exist.
On the other hand, Bitcoin depends on miners and infrastructure to remain operational, which he sees as a structural weakness.
He did recognize one area where cryptocurrencies have value – helping people in authoritarian countries move money without government oversight.
But he said this use case is too limited to make cryptocurrencies a mainstream currency.
At the time of the original report, Bitcoin was trading at $68,716, up 7% over 24 hours. Since then, it has declined and is now trading below $70,000.
