Speaking to CNBC today Tilman said he could see his businesses accepting cryptocurrencies in the near future, saying;
"I think it's going to happen... I mean, I remember somebody walking into my office and saying, 'The world's going to change. There's this thing called the internet.' And that wasn't that long ago. So we have to remember this. It's just something new and everything moves at a quicker pace today."
But he also expressed concern over the lack of FDIC insurance on cryptocurrencies, which in a nutshell is the government guaranteeing the money exists if and when someone wants to convert a digital balance to paper cash. Citing that if he wanted to take out just $1 million in cash from a bank, the bank likely doesn't hold that much in paper money:
"They don't have the money. It's just paper. That's all bitcoin is, is paper, but it's not insured by the FDIC today. And until it's insured, a lot of people are never going to buy it."
This highlights the massive gap currently between cryptocurrency advocates wanting as little government involvement as possible, and big business that hesitate to dive in without government assurances.
In my opinion - this is the battle that's likely to take place in 2018.
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Author: Ross Davis
San Francisco News Desk
