Michael Dell Calls Blockchain “Underrated” But Has No Opinion on Bitcoin

Michael Saul Dell, an American billionaire businessman, and the founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Dell Technologies shared his opinion on the buzzing blockchain technology and Bitcoin trends. While answering questions from his interview session with the New York Times, Dell said he thinks that blockchain is probably underrated, a comment that depicts many has not tapped into the full potentials of the new decade-old technology.

The framework for blockchain technology predates the 21st Century, the first prominent expression of blockchain was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. While Satoshi’s creation, Bitcoin was what made blockchain popular, there has been a wide variety of blockchain systems launched in the past decade. These blockchain systems are heralding a revolution that is notably changing key aspects of the economy including finance and supply chain amongst others.

Several industries are beginning to integrate blockchain technology into their systems today, with prominent names developing blockchain solutions ranging from IBM to Amazon amongst others. Despite the growing popularity of blockchain in industries, Michael Dell thinks the fullest potential of the technology is generally not being expressed in an optimal manner.

Michael Dell on Bitcoin

When asked about Bitcoin, the Dell Founder said “I’m going to pass on that. I don’t really know.” The sharp response by Dell takes a wide detour from the likes of Wall Street veterans such as Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and an investor known for his highly productive bets on companies. Buffett is not so much of a fan of Bitcoin, and unlike Dell, he has maintained a position that Bitcoin is more akin to gambling, and has no position in the digital currency.

Despite his seemingly neutral stance, Dell’s company has been engaged with Bitcoin in the past. The company partnered with Nasdaq-listed American trading platform, Coinbase Inc in mid-2014 to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment for its products in the US, becoming one of the pioneering firms to accept Bitcoin for payments in the world.

In the past year, more companies are beginning to embrace the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. This is a sign that indicates that more institutional investors are beginning to see the potential in the role of Bitcoin as a hedge against the impacts of inflation on the US Dollar. Today, Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a valuation that places it more than 10x ahead of the valuation of Dell Technologies.