What’s a Bitcoin worth?
Click here for part 1: “Let’s do an ICO!”
“What’s the value of a Bitcoin anyway?” Andrea exclaims. “There’s nothing behind it to guarantee its value!” It’s the end of 2017, and we just told our two board members that we’re considering creating an ICO. Andrea Schlapbach, our first external board member, has not come around to liking crypto currencies yet. He has one of the most analytical minds out there, and his ability to understand complex environments and situations is unparalleled. Together with his ‘glider friends’ he founded the company FLARM, which builds and sells anti-aircraft collision systems. The company really took off when they applied their technology to the mining industry, where it’s used to prevent collisions that would force mines to close for days. They’ve successfully sold the mining section of their company, and are now focusing their efforts on collision avoidance systems for drones. With his restless mind, Andrea strives to understand all the business intrinsicalities. He never stops challenging us to further grow and improve Securosys.
“What’s the value of a Bitcoin — well, what’s the value of a dollar?” I retort. “There’s nothing behind it either.” Rather than discussing the specifics of our ICO, we’re drifting off into a philosophical discussion about crypto currencies. “If you think about it, there’s nothing that guarantees the value of a dollar,” I continue. “The gold standard is long gone — people just trust it and agree on its value. And, by the way, the same is true for the Swiss Franc.”
I seem to have hit a sore spot. “Now wait a minute,” Hans-Jörg exclaims. “This is the Swiss Franc we’re talking about!” Hans-Jörg Bärtschi, our senior board member, has had an amazing career as an entrepreneur and investor. With his nicely trimmed beard and perfectly tailored blue suit, he’s constantly on the lookout for another business opportunity. He is currently an independent consultant, advisor, but sometimes also investor and board member at international technology companies. For about 10 years, Hans-Jörg was the owner and chairman of Omnisec AG, a Swiss data encryption company, where our CTO Andreas Curiger worked for him. As one of our first investors, Hans-Jörg supports us whenever we need him and gives us the freedom to run our own business.
Yes, it is the Swiss Franc we’re talking about, the pride of Switzerland. “At least the Swiss National Bank has some gold to back it up,” Hans-Jörg continues. Andrea is starting to contemplate this: “Well, there isn’t as much gold as there used to be — relatively speaking.” Not giving up on saving the Swiss Franc’s reputation, he adds: “However, I see a different point. Most of Switzerland’s real estate is guaranteed by a mortgage. In that way we can argue that the value of the Swiss Franc is guaranteed by the value of all mortgaged properties.” “Fair point,” I concede, “the Swiss Franc isn’t based purely on trust like Bitcoins or the dollar.”
There is also another point to consider. “Didn’t the SNB print money like crazy over the last few years to keep the value of the Swiss Franc from rising too much?” Indeed, it did: the foreign currency reserves of the SNB grew sevenfold from 2010 to 2017. “Currently that’s impossible with Bitcoin. There will be a limited number of Bitcoins,” Andreas says, joining the conversation. He’s the most knowledgeable about Blockchain and crypto currencies in our group. “The generation rate of new Bitcoins is steadily lowered. The last one will be minted around 2140.”
Yes, we all agree that their limited supply might actually be a benefit for crypto currencies. Inflation shouldn’t be a problem. “Don’t generalize,” Andreas continues, “this is only the case for Bitcoin. Not all other crypto currencies share this feature.” He is, of course, right. Even Ethereum, the second most successful crypto currency after Bitcoin, is technically unlimited in supply. Inflation might become a real concern like in traditional, fiat currencies.
We’re going in the right direction, yet many questions remain. How will we establish ourselves in this world of crypto currencies? How will our own coin be structured? Can we enter this market with our products and deliver real, unique selling points? Obviously, we must take the time to form a strategy for our own ICO. Moving forward, there are still many different things to consider.
