As different figures in the business and technological industries expressed their negative stand towards bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, relevant personalities from the same industry defended the crypto-space. The defenders were Nasdaq’s CEO, which said that cryptocurrencies are the ‘next step in the space of currency,’ and Reddit co-founder who explained that virtual currencies are a great tool against hyperinflation.
War of Opinions Among Leaders
Nasdaq Chief Executive Officer, Adena Friedman, said while speaking on CNN, that cryptocurrency feels like the ‘right next step in the space of currency.’ Moreover, she explained that a globalized payment mechanism is the natural fit for the cross-border economy. 
“How it evolves and which of the cryptocurrencies may or may not be the one that ultimately gets embraced, I think that really the jury is still out on that,” she commented. “But I do think the idea of a more globalized payment mechanism that is more efficient than what we have today allows for money to transfer across countries and certainly supports the internet economy.”
But Ms. Friedman was not the only one commenting positively about Bitcoin and virtual currencies. Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, said in an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he believes virtual currencies can be an effective tool to protect funds against hyperinflation.
It is important to mark that some countries, including Venezuela and Zimbabwe, have suffered important inflationary processes during the last years. Both extreme cases show that individuals were not able to use their local currency as a means of payment because nobody wanted them, or because it was too difficult to use them.
But virtual currencies provide an important solution to this problem.
During the interview, Mr Ohanian commented:
“Cryptocurrencies are a fuel for a potentially new internet. Things like Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are opportunity for us to have a store of value that is not backed by a single country.”
Zimbabweans and Venezuelans were both paying premium prices to buy Bitcoin some months ago, moreover, the use of virtual currencies in both countries increased substantially when the crisis aggravated.
