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Ray Kurzweil Was Skeptical of Bitcoin but Open to Blockchain’s Potential

In remarks reported in July 2017, Ray Kurzweil said Bitcoin’s instability put him off investing, while describing possible future uses for algorithmic currencies and blockchain.
From TheFinanceBase Team2 min to read
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Ray Kurzweil’s reported position was more nuanced than a blanket rejection of cryptocurrency: he said Bitcoin’s instability made him unwilling to invest, but left room for algorithmic currencies and blockchain-based transaction records if confidence and unresolved technical issues could be addressed. Those remarks were reported by Futurism in July 2017; they should not be read as a statement of his current views.

What Kurzweil reportedly said about Bitcoin

At the Exponential Finance Summit in New York City, held shortly before Futurism updated its account on July 12, 2017, Kurzweil questioned whether Bitcoin could provide the kind of stability people expect from a currency. Futurism quoted him saying: “Currencies like the dollar have provided reasonable stability. Bitcoin has not. And it’s not clear to me that the whole mining paradigm can provide that type of stability… We’ve seen tremendous instability with bitcoin, so I wouldn’t put my money into it.”

His stated concern was Bitcoin’s volatility and uncertainty about whether its mining model could support currency-like stability. The quote describes his view at the time; it is not investment advice or evidence of what he thinks today.

Why his comments did not rule out other digital currencies

Kurzweil’s reported skepticism focused on Bitcoin, not every possible alternative to national currencies. In the same remarks, he said: “I certainly do think there could be alternatives to national currencies emerging in the future. Algorithmic ones are a possibility, I just don’t think we’ve arrived at the right algorithm yet.”

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That distinction matters: he was open to the possibility of a future algorithmic currency, while saying he did not believe the right approach had arrived. The report did not identify a particular alternative or say that one had solved the stability problem.

What he said about blockchain

Futurism quoted Kurzweil as saying: “I think once we can demonstrate confidence, then yes, a blockchain currency makes sense, and being able to document transactions securely, but there’s a lot to work out.”

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This was conditional openness, not an endorsement of Bitcoin or a claim that blockchain systems were already proven. The comment separates potential uses of a blockchain—such as documenting transactions—from the question of whether a particular cryptocurrency can function as a stable currency. Using a blockchain does not, by itself, guarantee confidence, security, or price stability.

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How to read the report today

Patrick Caughill’s Futurism article, updated July 12, 2017, is a contemporaneous secondary account of remarks at the summit. It does not include a transcript or recording in its text, so the quoted wording is attributable to Futurism’s report rather than an independently supplied primary transcript. Its observations are historical; the article does not establish Kurzweil’s current position or describe present-day cryptocurrency conditions.

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Read the July 12, 2017 Futurism report.

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