Anatoy Yakovenko, the cofounder of Solana, has aired out some strong critiques of Bitcoin (BTC), arguing that it has no real value when compared to other assets. These remarks have evoked mixed reactions from the crypto community, with some supporting Bitcoin and others lambasting Solana.
Bitcoin’s Yakovenko, who is a former member of the major league baseball players union, seems to want to further expand on the coin’s value recently claimed through X that the only type of value BTC has is sentimental value. “In my simple model of the world, Bitcoin is not even a real investment. It is a bet, like flipping a coin,” he said.
His main argument for Bitcoin’s value is that it can act as “insurance” in case of the collapse of a superpower. He thinks that the probability of this kind of collapse actually materializing is roughly 1%.
He admitted that considering the dire state of the world, spending 1% of wealth on a volatile coin like Bitcoin might not be the dumbest idea after all, but also not the most rational financial decision.
He went on to add – from the perspective of the most dire prediction, the price of Bitcoin does not really matter. Whether BTC sits at 100k USD or 10kUSD, its ability to endure the hypothetical situation would remain the same.
Yakovenko stated Bitcoin’s effectiveness as a hedge is very likely, but he would attribute its success to pre-technology. In his estimation, it is the original innovation made over fifteen years ago, not the current or any possible innovation within the cryptocurrency that would win.
This position has further heated debates over the applicability of Bitcoin for anything other than a hedging resource in the future.
Responding to Yakovenko’s statement, numerous defenders of the currency have expressed their disbelief. Angel investor Ashkay BD countered the argument claiming that the real value of Bitcoin is in the protection it affords to users against counterparty risks of failing banks and government’s currency devaluation and capital control policies.
To these advocates, Bitcoin represents an essential protection which most of the financial systems do not offer.
Recently, Solana has come under fire from some critics who have begun to evaluate it more closely. A degree of skepticism lingers concerning the upcoming launch of Solana (SOL) futures on the CME Group, as some investors still believe that Solana is untested and overhyped.
Critics have even gone so far as to say if Yakovenko considers Bitcoin a means of escaping dystopian scenarios, then Solana is only good for speculative plays like memecoins.
As part of an ongoing effort to dissociate the Solana ecosystem from Yakovenko’s outrageous remarks, Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, has openly declared that she is a Bitcoiner. She also asserted that its vital for the community to combat tribalism, urging people to come together instead of splitting apart.
