If Bitcoin Fails, Crypto Industry in for a Bad Time: Cardano Founder

Ethereum co-founder turned Cardano creator Charles Hoskinson believes that if Bitcoin fails, the entire cryptocurrency industry could fail.

Bitcoin: "Blind, deaf and dumb by design".

During the interview, Hoskinson reflected on Bitcoin's origins, the parameters they set for subsequent projects, so-dubbed Bitcoin maximalism, and how Bitcoin's future survival is intimately bound up with the fate of the entire industry.

"One of the biggest problems with Bitcoin," he began, "Is that it's blind, deaf and dumb and that was by design."

Conversely, Bitcoin was never intended "To replicate the world financial system and also be fully compliant with that system, this was not in its scope."

"I can't even make pull payments with Bitcoin and that's the bread and butter of most of our commercial systems."

Maximalists should concede that Bitcoin's not necessarily always fit-for-purpose, he said.

"Bitcoin, frankly, is the brand of cryptocurrencies".

Hoskinson's comments on Bitcoin's importance for the entire cryptocurrency space spun out of a discussion of the merits of Proof-of-Work vs. Proof-of-Stake systems, and which of the two is more likely to survive.

"Bitcoin frankly is the brand of cryptocurrencies. We can't say, oh, I'm going to succeed but Bitcoin'll fail. if Bitcoin fails, the whole industry's probably in for a really bad time."