NEW YORK/LONDON: Seven years ago, Marshall Hayner gave his grandfather one bitcoin, worth about $30. On the paper wallet he fashioned to commemorate the gift, the US entrepreneur and software developer wrote: “Do not open until $100,000.”
It made Hayner’s grandparents laugh, and indeed bitcoin has not come anywhere near that level. But it is worth more than 200 times what it was in 2011 when Hayner made the gift.
Investors who took a chance on the fledgling currency and stuck with it have been on a rollercoaster ride — but are optimistic that they are still onto a winner.
“I have seen these run-ups and drops in bitcoin and I did not even flinch,” said 34-year old Hayner, who started mining bitcoins in 2009 when the granddaddy of all cryptocurrencies was worth nothing. He also founded payments company Metal Pay.
“I believe in this technology. I really believe that bitcoin is the next digital gold,” he said in an interview this week.
Bitcoin on Wednesday celebrates ten years since Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s mysterious founder, released a whitepaper outlining the need for an Internet currency that could be used as payment without going through a third party like a bank.
One bitcoin is now worth around $6,200. That is a steep 70 percent fall from its all-time high of near $20,000 in December last year, hurt by a more intense regulatory scrutiny around the world, as well as the rise of cryptocurrency crime including hacking, but a substantial boost for any early investors who bet on it.
“If the price goes down, I am happy because I was able to sell some,” said Israeli entrepreneur Daniel Peled, who has bought since late 2013 and believes another record peak is a few years away. “And if it goes up, I am happy too because I am still holding some.”
Peled’s optimism is partly based on his waiting for bitcoin’s next “halving,” which has constrained its supply and has caused its spike as demand increased.
Bitcoin relies on so-called “mining” computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded new bitcoins. Bitcoin technology was designed in such a way that it cut the reward for miners in half every four years, a move that was meant to keep a lid on inflation.
The next halving is scheduled in 2020 and the following year should be a good year for bitcoin, Peled said.
The same optimism has prompted London-based investor Nicholas Gregory to keep his bitcoins, which he bought heavily in early 2014.
Distrustful of exchanges, Gregory, currently chief executive of blockchain firm CommerceBlock, made his first purchase through a website that matched him to a man selling bitcoins on a memory stick in a New York cafe.
Since then, he has not sold any bitcoins, citing the potential of the digital currency to safely store value and transfer money across the Internet.
Lost potential?
Some investors, however, have become disillusioned, arguing that bitcoin has been held back and not reached its expected potential by taking off in the real world.
Vaughn Blake, a Los Angeles-based portfolio manager at private equity firm Echo Tree Capital, liquidated his cryptocurrency quantitative fund in January this year when bitcoin was at $13,000. He started investing in bitcoin in 2013 when it was around $120 but said he has been a victim of hacks and phishing attempts.
Bitcoin’s technology has also not always been an efficient means of processing payments. It can be slow, sometimes incurring higher fees than regular transactions, market participants said.
London-based entrepreneur Jez San, CEO of blockchain firm Funfair Technologies, started buying bitcoin in 2013, at around $50, but sold most of it well before the peak in December 2017. He invested in Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency that runs on another public blockchain network, instead.
“We all expected people would be buying coffees with it and they would use it instead of PayPal,” said San. “Bitcoin is way too hard to use — it’s so user unfriendly that the man in the street just can’t use it.”
Early bitcoin investors count winnings after volatile decade
Early bitcoin investors count winnings after volatile decade
- Bitcoin relies on so-called “mining” computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes
- Some investors, however, have become disillusioned, arguing that bitcoin has been held back and not reached its expected potential by taking off in the real world
Saudi-French cooperation to localize veterinary vaccine manufacturing
RIYADH: In the presence of sector leaders, the National Livestock and Fisheries Development Program signed a memorandum of understanding with French company Ceva under the patronage of Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, who also chairs the program’s board.
The agreement aims to localize vaccine manufacturing, transfer technology and technical expertise, and expand the industrial and commercial production of veterinary vaccines across the Kingdom.
According to the MoU, the two parties will work to achieve high efficiency in mass production scale-up and establish a clear path for sustainable commercial operation that meets the needs of the local and national market, as well as strengthen the biosecurity and food security system.
The MoU also includes the development and modernization of messenger RNA vaccine technologies, along with joint research and development of a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome vaccine for camels. This involves designing, evaluating, and developing vaccines specifically tailored to combat the virus.
The agreement also covers the development of a rabies vaccine and related solutions, as well as supporting national efforts to control the disease through vaccine provision, capacity building, and the implementation of integrated prevention strategies.
The collaboration between the program and Ceva aims to meet the needs of the poultry vaccine market in the Kingdom, currently estimated at around SR750 million ($199 million).
The company will work to cover approximately 30 percent of this market with an initial investment of around SR250 million.
With continued government support for poultry projects and increased production in the sector, the market is expected to grow at a rate exceeding 10 percent annually, reaching approximately SR1.25 billion by 2030.
The addition of the world’s leading poultry vaccine manufacturer to Biotech Park highlights the program’s key role in developing new industries within the livestock and fisheries sector.
It also highlights the program’s commitment to building international partnerships with global companies, organizations, research centers, and universities to support advanced biotechnology industries and attract high-quality investments. It also seeks to create new economic sectors based on biotechnology, enhance veterinary health security, and support the sustainable economic development of the livestock sector, as well as empower national and emerging companies and provide advanced research and industrial infrastructure.
This will solidify the Kingdom’s position as a global hub for biotechnology industries and the development of national capabilities.
Ceva is the first international partner to join Biotech Park, the future veterinary biotechnology city launched by the program in Dhurma Governorate. The city is the world’s first specialized and fully integrated hub for veterinary biotechnology, serving as a benchmark for sector development and a platform supporting markets across the Kingdom, the Gulf, the Middle East, Africa and beyond.
The signing of Ceva is a significant step, given its position as the world’s leading manufacturer of poultry vaccines and medicines, and one of the most prominent international companies in the field of biotechnology.
The MoU aims to localize the veterinary vaccine industry, ensuring its compatibility with the strains of poultry diseases prevalent in Saudi Arabia. This includes the transfer of technology and technical expertise from Ceva, along with the implementation of specialized training programs to guarantee that manufacturing facilities comply with international Good Manufacturing Practice standards.
