Billionaire investor and venture capitalist Tim Draper has reportedly attempted to persuade the Sri Lankan government to adopt bitcoin. However, the governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka dismissed his recommendation, stressing that: “100% bitcoin adoption will never be a reality in Sri Lanka.”
Tim Draper Suggests Sri Lanka Adopts Bitcoin
Billionaire investor and venture capitalist Tim Draper campaigned for bitcoin adoption by the Sri Lankan government and central bank during a visit to the South Asian country earlier this week to shoot an episode of his “Meet the Drapers” TV show with local entrepreneurs. Tried to persuade
Bloomberg reported that the billionaire met with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday to push for bitcoin adoption, adding that he visited Sri Lanka’s central bank the next day with the same pitch.
Wearing a bitcoin tie, Draper was quoted as saying: “I come to the central bank with a decentralized currency.” However, Sri Lankan Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe replied:
We do not accept… 100% bitcoin adoption will never be a reality in Sri Lanka.
Riots broke out in Sri Lanka last year due to lack of fuel and food. The then President fled the debt-ridden country and later resigned. Sri Lanka’s headline inflation rate was 54.2% in January, and the economy shrank by 8% last year, the governor elaborated.
Draper told the central bank chief that he was “a little worried about you guys,” elaborating:
Have you seen Sri Lanka in the news? It is known as the capital of corruption. A country known for corruption will be able to keep perfect records with the adoption of bitcoin.
The billionaire VC kept trying to pacify Weerasinghe during their 30-minute meeting. He also cited El Salvador, which will become the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021 alongside the US dollar.
“Does the administration have the guts to do this?” Draper asked the governor of the Sri Lankan central bank as he pushed for bitcoin adoption. “What’s the use of having your own currency?”
However, Weerasinghe replied:
We don’t want to make the crisis worse by introducing bitcoin.
Draper has proposed bitcoin adoption in several other countries and has received a positive response from the Sri Lankan government and central bank. For example, the small island nation of Palau in the Pacific made him a founding resident of its digital-residency program.
Billionaires have long been bullish about bitcoin because of the cryptocurrency’s characterization as a hedge against inflation. In November last year he predicted it B T c Should reach $250K by mid-2023.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has warned the public several times about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies. In July last year, the central bank published a notice warning that virtual currencies are “considered as unregulated financial instruments and there are no regulatory oversight or safeguards relating to their use in Sri Lanka.” The authority said it has “not granted any license or authorization to any entity or company to operate schemes involving virtual currencies including cryptocurrencies.”
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