HTTP and HTML developer equates cryptocurrencies with gambling

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of HTTP and HTML, the developer of the World Wide Web, called cryptocurrency «dangerous» and compared it to gambling. The scientist said this in an episode of the Beyond The Valley podcast on CNBC.

Discussing the future of the Internet, Berners-Lee said that digital currencies are speculative and compared them to the dot-com bubble, in which the prices of shares of Internet companies, often without real business, were greatly inflated.

«This is just speculation. Obviously, cryptocurrencies are very dangerous,» Berners-Lee said. — «It's kind of like a gambling addiction, if you get any pleasure from gambling at all. Investing in such purely speculative things is not something I want to spend my time on.»

The developer believes that digital assets can only be useful for money transfers if they are converted back into fiat currency immediately after receipt.

The British inventor also expressed dissatisfaction with the way the Internet is currently organized: Berners-Lee would like to give users more control over their personal data. «Many people see the future of the Internet in the areas of Web3, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies, believing that decentralization will eliminate the monopoly of large companies like Facebook and Google. However, I am not sure that blockchain fits into the concept of the Internet at all. The blockchain technology is not as fast and secure as it is commonly believed,» the programmer expressed his own vision.

The idea that cryptocurrencies should be equated with gambling is not new. charlie Munger, 99, the right-hand man of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, also criticizes digital assets. «Cryptocurrencies are not currencies, commodities, or securities. It is a gambling agreement with almost 100% advantage for casinos. Obviously, the U.S. should pass a new federal law that will ban cryptocurrencies,» Munger told the Wall Street Journal in early February.