Bitcoin is great and safe, says, er, the Bitcoin Foundation

Regulation after Mt Gox

Of course, regulation is the area that is proving most difficult for the fledgling cryptocurrency, particularly since the shady downfall of one of its largest exchanges, Mt Gox.

Andresen neatly sidestepped the specifics of the Mt Gox issue, but he did say that the Bitcoin sector and its technology were still young.

“I don’t expect smooth sailing for the Bitcoin ecosystem. I lived through the dotcom boom and bust and from that chaos arose great companies, and I think the same thing will happen in the Bitcoin world,” he said.

However, Andresen is feeling a little bit more optimistic about the regulatory landscape for the digital cash, even though "regulators have to react to this new technology and try to fit it into laws that were passed years and years ago, and I think you see that in all kinds of tech".

“Because banking and financial is one of the most regulated industries, it’s been particularly difficult for Bitcoin. [But] in the last year or so, we’ve seen regulators such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) come out with guidelines. The challenge would be to not get over-regulated and kill innovation,” he said.

As for Bitcoin’s elusive founder Satoshi Nakamoto, Andresen said he doesn’t know who he/she/they are – and it doesn’t matter.

“I’ve never trusted Satoshi. I don’t have to trust Satoshi because I trust the code,” he said. ®