Ex-CEO of Google Eric Schmidt praises potential of Ethereum

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of the technology giant Google and today’s billionaire, explained at a private event of the venture capital firm Village Global that Ethereum can be a “powerful platform” whose untapped potential lies beyond the Ether Prize.

In the conversation between Eric Schmidt and Tyler Cowen various topics were discussed, from the future of technology to Antarctica, human life expectancy, Google’s recruitment practices to blockchain technology.

When asked whether he thinks Blockchain technology is overestimated or underestimated, Schmidt gave a very positive answer for the private sector.

In public format, overrated. Underestimated in its technical use. Today Blockchain is a great platform for Bitcoin and other currencies. And it is a great platform for private banking transactions where people do not trust each other.

Then he praised the potential of the Ethereum platform. Schmidt believes that Ethereum will be able to offer exciting developments in the future that could revolutionize the economy and society.

I think the most interesting stuff going on here is the beginning of execution on the blockchain, the most obvious example is the ability of Ethereum. And if Ethereum manages to find a way to globally synchronize this activity, it’s a pretty powerful platform. That’s a really new invention.

Interestingly, Eric Schmidt was a Bitcoin supporter after coming into contact in 2011 through Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Assange then asked Schmidt to accept Bitcoin because it will one day be valuable.

Already in 2014, Schmidt praised Bitcoin as a unique technological advance with great potential that represents a remarkable cryptographic performance, as Bitcoin solved a big problem in the digital world: the ability to create something that is not duplicable in this world. He also explained back then that many people are going to start businesses building on the Bitcoin architecture.

You can watch the whole conversation below (the blockchain discussion starts at 26:50).