Founder of Litecoin, Charlie Lee, in an interview with SFOX, shared his view on the future of cryptocurrencies.
Lee, despite regulators, governments, skeptics, naysayers and markets, Lee stresses the organic strength of cryptocurrencies, giving reasons why they will survive.
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He said: “It’s actually really hard to kill a decentralized cryptocurrency: if there are one or two people supporting it, then it will survive. I think for a few years around 2013/2014, Litecoin was pretty stale, and I was focused on Bitcoin – this was when I was working at Coinbase, so I wasn’t really paying too much attention to Litecoin or trying to make sure that it was doing well. But Litecoin managed to do pretty well, and it came back strong.”
Lee, in an interview, talked about his feelings and difficulties encountered being the public face of a decentralized cryptocurrency. He may not be able to attain Bitcoin’s unknown creator, Satoshi’s anonymity, but has revealed that he might have to leave Litecoin completely- at least when the coin has achieved its aim and has its vision fulfilled to become an everyday payment method. His departure by then would support the strength and resilience of Litecoin, indicating how a decentralized network can function effectively without the presence of a central figure, authority or dictator.
Lee, concerning Bitcoin’s lack of an identifiable creator, said that: “I think that, for good reason, Satoshi remained anonymous and kind of left the project. In hindsight, I should have done the same thing. I mean, being a public face for a decentralized cryptocurrency is kind of an oxymoron. Obviously, Litecoin is more centralized than Bitcoin. If anyone wants to target Litecoin, they could attack me. That’s something that definitely could be improved. So I think that moving forward, I’ll eventually have to step away from Litecoin – I’m talking years down the road, when Litecoin is used and more as a real-world currency. At that point, it wouldn’t make sense for the creator to still be around, dictating things.”
Lee feels that, to make Litecoin “sound money” then adoption is very necessary. This has nothing to do with competing with PayPal.
He says the appeal is going to be a very powerful kind of payment method which cannot be inflated or counterfeited by anyone: “We have a movement called #PayWithLitecoin, a grassroots movement where people are encouraging everyone to get out there and pay with Litecoin, to convince their local merchants to accept it – to actually use it. So: they use it, merchants will see people using it and asking for it, and they will accept it. They’re trying to kickstart a virtuous cycle.”
Lee, without any Litecoin holdings, said that: “I’m focused on spending all my time on Litecoin because it’s my baby: I created it, I want to see it succeed, and, if it does well, I get pride, fame, whatever. I’m spending all my time on it, and time is more valuable than money to me. So I’m definitely, really, fully invested in Litecoin’s success.”
