Ledger CEO: Collapse of banks is a ‘crash course for Bitcoin’
The collapse of major banks highlights the need for Bitcoin (BTC) and self-storage, according to Pascal Gauthier, CEO and chairman of hardware wallet provider Ledger.
In an interview with Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall at Paris Blockchain Week, Gauthier talked about how recent events show how BTC can be a safe haven against the threat of central authorities. He explained that:
“Bitcoin was designed as a reaction to Lehman Brothers in the 2008 crisis. It was designed because you can’t trust central governments. And it’s designed because it’s clear that central governments will fail. It’s not a question of. It’s more a matter of when.”
According to Gauthier, when events like Celsius, FTX and bank collapses happen, people flock to self-storage and to crypto. “When the market gets stressed and when people fear for their savings, you know, they rush to crypto and to Ledger,” he pointed out.
In addition, the Ledger CEO also believes that people are starting to notice the reality of banks because of the current situation. Gauthier explained that many people come from the idea that the purpose of banks is to secure people’s funds, because even if the banks fail, people will get paid back. But this may not be the case.
“They’re finding that actually that’s not necessarily the case. And so it’s troublesome. But again, it’s a crash course into Bitcoin and why it exists and why it’s necessary for the future,” he explained.
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When asked if traditional brands entering Web3 could potentially become a threat to crypto decentralization, Gauthier expressed confidence that this will not happen. He said:
“If this happens, then crypto is dead, and then we move on to the next thing. I mean, either crypto gets decentralized or it doesn’t. And all these brands actually understand this.”
According to the Ledger CEO, brands were able to learn a lesson from Facebook’s lack of respect for the ethos of crypto, which is decentralization. “We’ve seen the movie now, you know, they [Facebook] failed because they didn’t respect some of the fundamental principles of what crypto is,” he said. He added that anyone who tries to centralize crypto is destined to fail. According to Gauthier, these are “two magnets that just aren’t going to stick together.”
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