00:00You're very very optimistic. It has to be said when it comes to Bitcoin. People talk about the UAE as the Wall Street of crypto.
00:07But you go further. You've seen that Abu Dhabi is going to be the global hub. So just talk to us about how close we actually are to that.
00:16Well first of all I think this was a very good year for the crypto Bitcoin blockchain narrative in general.
00:24What we're seeing right now is actually capital markets copying the crypto markets with a very strong sentiment across tokenization across a lot of people recently.
00:36I've just been to the Abu Dhabi Finance Week. People are talking about the tokenization of real estate, of private markets, of public markets.
00:45We've seen this year capital markets copying crypto markets moving 24-5 and now moving 24-7.
00:54Abu Dhabi, the capital of capital, has always said that they wanted to take a significant part in that transition into the digital asset economy and the digital space,
01:06which we're definitely seeing scaling up across the world with more than 400 people now with digital assets.
01:14And now we're seeing also the U.S. saying that they want to lead in crypto, that they want to see U.S. capital markets moving on chain.
01:23So we're seeing a lot of trends right now happening from capital markets into crypto markets.
01:30Well hold on a minute, Yodi, because you've got Bitcoin heading for its worst quarter since 2022.
01:35It's set to end the year lower, as I say, despite the general risk attitude in stocks and the demand for havens like gold.
01:43I'm interested why you see it as the digital gold in that case.
01:48Well, I've been in crypto since 2011. Luckily, at eToro, we caught it very early on the intersection of finance and technology.
01:57So we actually looked at Bitcoin back at $5 per Bitcoin in 2011.
02:02Then we saw it rise to $1,200 and listed it on eToro back in 2013, just moments before it crushed back in, I'd say, the first crypto enter in 2014.
02:16So we've seen several cycles into the crypto markets, into Bitcoin price.
02:22I would generally say in capital markets, when everybody is expecting something, you know, an asset to move in a certain direction, in many cases, sometimes it might surprise.
02:32So I think a lot of people are surprised while this is the friendliest administration in the U.S. to crypto, a lot of developments in the technology part of the crypto space and Bitcoin space with recent even tokenization on Bitcoin to see price actually slide this year on Bitcoin and generally in crypto markets.
02:54People are talking about the cycles, of course, of the crypto markets.
02:59But my view on capital markets and Bitcoin markets is always a long-term view.
03:04I've no doubt that this is a correction eventually into higher prices in Bitcoin and into the transition of more than $100 trillion becoming digital assets over the next 20 years.
03:17Hmm. Okay. So a long-term view. You had Eric Trump telling Bitcoin MENA 2024 that you're going to see Bitcoin hitting a million dollars.
03:26How long-term is that view? Is that sort of talk helping the market or is it just fantasy?
03:32I think it's helping the market. I don't think it's fantasy. I think if you look today at, you know, and it's a great time to look at the market cap of gold and silver right now,
03:43it's still hitting all-time high. You know, I remember my grandfather talking to me about buying gold in the 70s for $50.
03:51It's coming up to $5,000, I think, you know, with $4,400 right now. So that's 100 times on gold since the 70s.
04:01So I think deflationary assets like Bitcoin, like gold, are actually positioned to grow over time, basically reversing, you know,
04:13or reversing the correlation to inflation, which has been growing in recent years, especially in COVID.
04:20So I do think Bitcoin represents digital gold.
04:23We need to remember gold has been with us for 5,000 years, powering a lot of the global commerce.
04:30Bitcoin is with us only about 15, 16 years, powering the digital economy of a new generation of Gen Y and even more than that,
04:40Gen Zedders and Gen Alpha, who are more crypto native.
04:43And I think people are looking at Bitcoin as their digital gold, but that's younger generations who are going to amass over $100 trillion in the next 20 years.
04:54But right now, the vast majority of assets in the world are still held with central banks, financial institutions and people over their 70s.
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