Author: Brayden Lindrea, Cointelegraph; Translated by: Song Xue, Golden Finance
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called Bitcoin a "super logical" step on the technology tree that is both beyond government control and helps fight corruption.
“I’m excited about Bitcoin,” Altman told Joe Rogan during an Oct. 6 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
"I think having a global currency that is not controlled by any government is a very logical and important step on the technological development tree."
The interview with the OpenAI boss covers his views on Bitcoin as the world’s reserve currency and his concerns about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Altman, who is also the founder of Worldcoin, said the shift to a “technology-inspired world,” including Bitcoin, could help reduce corruption.
“Obviously, one of the things I’ve observed, and a lot of other people have observed, is that corruption is an incredible impediment to the advancement of society,” Altman said.
“But in a world where payments are no longer made in the form of a bag of cash, but digitally, even if you use Bitcoin, you can monitor those movements of money,” he said, adding:
"I think this will help reduce corruption."
At the same time, Rogan expressed his optimism about Bitcoin. Despite his skepticism about the entire cryptocurrency industry, he said he believes Bitcoin can become a "viable global currency."
"The really fascinating cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. To me, I think it has the best chance of becoming a viable, globally available currency. There is a finite amount of it, and people can mine it with their own computers."
"To me, it's very fascinating," Logan added.
However, Altman has been a long-time supporter of Bitcoin since before the podcast. In a blog post 10 years ago, Altman proposed that the world would be more transparent if Bitcoin was used for transactions.
“A world where we all transact in Bitcoin would be a world of much greater transparency and financial transparency. That’s perhaps the single biggest thing that would reduce corruption,” Altman said.
Rogan, Altman ‘very worried’ about CBDCs, slam US war on crypto
Meanwhile, both Altman and Rogan said they were “super opposed” to CBDCs and expressed concerns about the U.S. becoming a surveillance state.
Rogan believes that CBDCs could give governments more control over how people spend their money:
“I’m very concerned about central bank digital currencies and their connection to social credit scores. That scares the hell out of me. This is not being pushed for the overall good of society, it’s being pushed for control.”
Altman also added that he is not happy with the U.S. government’s recent treatment of the cryptocurrency industry:
"There are a lot of things that disappoint me about the recent behavior of the U.S. government, and it's something that makes me very sad about this country," he said.