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Roger Ver was one of the most vocal and important figures for Bitcoin’s (BTC) worldwide adoption in the early days.
The well-known investor and entrepreneur appeared in an interview on the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast on March 27. Among different topics, Roger Ver discussed with Vlad Costa about Ross Ulbricht’s 40th birthday, his thoughts on cryptocurrencies, and what would take Ver to vocally support Bitcoin again.
In particular, he explains that he would need to see Bitcoin being able to provide more economic freedom to the world. However, Roger Ver does not think this has been the case for the past seven years.
“As soon as I see BTC as a product that could have a chance to provide more economic freedom to the world, I would be right back there, in a moment. But, at the moment, I see projects like Monero, Zano, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and things like that having a much much bigger potential impact in freedom for the world.”
– Roger Ver
Moreover, Roger Ver explained that the cryptocurrency world has seen a move from BTC to Monero (XMR) in the darknet. This, according to him, was due to Monero’s privacy features, which help to “bring more economic freedom to the world,” in Ver’s words.
Roger Ver’s new book: Hijacking Bitcoin
The once known as “Bitcoin Jesus” has stepped away from supporting the most capitalized version of Bitcoin, BTC, in 2017. Roger Ver was, back then, one of the main supporters of the alternative, Bitcoin Cash (BCH). BCH aims to be an efficient medium of exchange, besides being a solid store of value, as the narrative behind what we currently know as Bitcoin.
“Whatever people can use as a medium of exchange is also what they want to use as their store of value.”
– Roger Ver
Interestingly, Roger Ver talked about a new book he is launching with Steve Patterson, now in pre-order on Amazon. The book is called “Hijacking Bitcoin: The Hidden History of BTC” and has already made the first place for new releases in “General Technology & Reference.” It is also possible to pay for the book using BCH.
On the notes about “Hijacking Bitcoin,” he comments:
“There is history that needs to be told. For the most part, the histories are told by the victors. The big block side, until now, has lost in terms of the Bitcoin-scaling war, but I think it’s really important for both sides to be heard. And one side engaged in a bunch of censorship and dirty and immoral tactics that are outlined in the book.”
– Roger Ver
Is Bitcoin priced by the free market?
In the discussion between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, the known freedom enthusiast slams external interference on the BTC price.
First, he says that “the free market is never done speaking,” about Bitcoin having a larger value than the alternatives. Second, he explains how, so far, there is no real “free market” dynamics in play to price Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
“It is not a free market at all. Not even remotely close. You have all these bureaucrats and politicians all over the world setting rules for this, and rules for that. BTC is allowed to have an ETF today, maybe Ethereum will next week, and Ripple is in trouble with the SEC, Bitcoin Cash is in limbo, Monero is not allowed to be listed on exchanges in half the countries around the world because it is too private. We are not even remotely close to a free market.”
– Roger Ver
In this context, Roger Ver had also said he believed the cryptocurrency market would have a lot more relevance and value today if Bitcoin had performed well as a medium of exchange.
All in all, the interview lasted for nearly one and a half hours. It was one of the longest interviews with Roger Ver in the past few years. Moving forward, the market could now expect to hear more from the “Bitcoin Jesus.”