Tim Draper Says Altcoins Could Help Bitcoin Evolve and Dominate


Venture capitalist and founding partner of Draper Associates, Tim Draper, says altcoins could ultimately make Bitcoin better by acting as testing grounds for upgrades.  

During an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, Draper said there will also be “many other cryptocurrencies,” created over time, which will help grow Bitcoin’s (BTC) dominance. 

“Competition is good for the world, but as a percentage of all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, with the first boom, they had a 40% market share, with the next boom, they had 50% market share, and now the market share is running around 61 to 62%,” he said. 

Adding that over time, “the dominant supplier builds the strongest network,” which results in developers programming for the “dominant supplier.” 

Draper thinks there will be many other coins created over time, which will help grow Bitcoin’s dominance. Source: YouTube 

Microsoft was the Bitcoin of Web2 

A similar situation played out with Microsoft, Draper said, because most developers were building on it when it first started out. However, some applications were created elsewhere and eventually ported.  

Microsoft is considered one of the top tech giants in the world, with its Windows operating system taking up over 71% of the market share.

“Well, the same thing is happening now with Bitcoin. All of these smaller cryptocurrencies are experimenting and doing interesting things and all of the great engineers are porting those to Bitcoin and so there is a gravitational pull toward Bitcoin,” he said. 

“There are other currencies that will come up as flashes in the pan but I think overall, we’re in a major trend toward Bitcoin.”

However, data from Electric Capital currently paints a different picture.

Their latest developer report estimates there are only 2,583 total developers on Bitcoin — a fraction of the total developers on the EVM stack (12,931) and Ethereum (9,094).

Bitcoin is a hedge against bad government spending: Draper

Draper also reiterated his stance that Bitcoin is a hedge against bad governance and out-of-control government spending.

Draper said government spending has become “uncontrolled,” with the spending as a percentage of gross domestic product going on a “rapid tear over the last hundred years,” with no sign of “slowing down.”