Charlie Lee on CNBC: Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin (LTC), chatted with CNBC about the recent Bithumb hack, Bitcoin price, and the Lightning Network.
Charlie Lee on CNBC: Bithumb Hack
The South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb was hacked earlier this week, with a total of USD $30 million in crypto being stolen. It was enough to shift the exchange from its sixth-place ranking for daily trading volume down to seventh. Along with the loss of crypto from the exchange, many cryptocurrencies’ prices plummeted from the resulting panic, including Bitcoin (BTC).
Lee explained that the price drop was to be expected. “It happens all the time,” he said. Crypto is stolen, people get scared, and so people sell, causing crypto prices to drop.
However, Lee argued that Bithumb being hacked – really, any exchange hack – doesn’t change Bitcoin’s core fundamentals. He likened this to a bank robbery:
“It’s like if a bank gets broken in and gold gets stolen, does this affect the price of gold? It shouldn’t. Same with Bitcoin. If the exchange doesn’t protect their coin well enough and gets hacked, it doesn’t really change the fundamentals of the coin that they’re protecting.”
His reasoning comes down to the fact that an exchange hack has more to do with the security of the exchange than it does with the crypto stolen.
Charlie Lee on CNBC: Bitcoin Price
Bitcoin may be dropping since the start of this year, but Lee is adamant that the coin is still “going really well.” He explains that Bitcoin’s network is becoming stronger and that the price of BTC is probably “disjointed from the actual development of Bitcoin.”
He noted that the market is unpredictable and that right now, it’s a bear market with no way of telling how long that will last.
“I’ve been in this space for seven to eight years now and I’ve seen bear markets last three to four years now. So, this one could be a three to four year market or it could recover tomorrow.”
The takeaway here is that it’s more important to pay attention to the developments of crypto projects than their current prices.
He finished by saying, “I have faith that prices will rebound and come back up fairly soon.”
Charlie Lee on CNBC: Lightning Network
Charlie Lee said that the thing he was most excited about currently in the crypto space was the Lightning Network.
“What I’m most excited about is Lightning Network. Technically, Bitcoin has gotten stronger and stronger over the past few years. SegWit has activated, developers are working hard on getting Lightning Network which is the second layer solution for payments working on Bitcoin and Litecoin.”
What did you think of Charlie Lee on CNBC? Do you agree with him?
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