Wikipedia Co-founder Jimmy Wales Sparks Controversy with Sarcastic Jab at Bitcoin
Summary:
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, recently ridiculed Bitcoin on X (formerly Twitter), arguing that unlike banks, Bitcoin fails because people often forget their wallet passwords. Numerous Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts countered Wales's disparaging remarks, highlighting the limitations and non-inclusivity of traditional banking systems worldwide. They also berated Wikipedia for its reliance on donations for operational purposes. Critics called attention to the banking system's centralization and limits, and emphasized that Bitcoin's loss due to forgotten passwords is more comparable to losing physical cash.
On December 11, Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, took a jab at Bitcoin on the X (formerly known as Twitter) platform. He pointed out that numerous Bitcoin enthusiasts have lost their precious digital currencies due to forgotten wallet passwords, yet he has never lost any money due to a forgotten bank password. This sarcastic quip didn't sit well with the wider Bitcoin and crypto community, who were quick to bluntly criticize Wikipedia's reliance on donations for its maintenance. In his X update, Wales compared forgetting a bank password to forgetting a Bitcoin wallet password, jesting, “that scenario doesn't occur because banks operate properly whereas Bitcoin does not.”
The Bitcoin community criticized Wales for his unwarranted harsh words for Bitcoin, reminding that while indeed banks are useful, they are not an option for everyone. Most importantly, there are many people globally who do not have access to banking services. Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation pointed out that banks serve well only nations with established laws and sturdy currencies. Importantly, he stated, only about a billion people out of the global population of 8 billion actually have access to such banking facilities.
Lyn Alden of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy highlighted that even those with bank accounts are not always protected, referencing an incident where a Lebanese doctor lost 95% of his savings due to hyperinflation. Bitcoin supporters, like Samson Mow, reacted sharply to Wales' comments, chiding him about Wikipedia's need for donations to stay afloat. Mow suggested that if Wikipedia had simply accepted his advice and purchased Bitcoin a few years ago, they would not have to humbly ask for donations annually.
Some critics also drew attention to the banking system's centralization and restated its limitations. Danny Scott, CEO of Bitcoin exchange Coin Corner, pointed out to Wales that he was creating a false equivalence between forgetting a Bitcoin wallet password and losing access to a bank account. Scott argued that a more apt comparison would be losing physical cash, which if lost, like Bitcoin, is gone forever.
Published At
12/13/2023 1:41:34 PM
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