Episode 20: Finder’s Fred Schebesta

Deep Dive Into Cryptocurrency

After successfully founding several businesses of which comparison website Finder.com is probably the most well-known, Fred Schebesta immersed himself in cryptocurrencies to see what all the fuss was about. Schebesta realised that the crypto space had many similarities to the early days of e-commerce and now runs a crypto exchange called HiveEx and is planning to launch an Australian crypto bank.

Podcast advert

Overview of podcast

1:30 Are cryptocurrency a store of value or an investment?
3:41 Cryptocurrencies are not correlated to anything
5:10 How do you determine the value of a cryptocurrency?
5:30 You have to look at the tech as well
6:00 Equities are just as much removed from their intrinsic values
8:00 How great is the danger that many of these cryptocurrencies become obsolete?
10:30 The RBA says we already have digital money. Why do we need cryptocurrencies?
11:35 A bank run is not possible with cryptocurrencies, because you own your own money
15:00 You look at technology that is 9 years’ old and you expect it to do what a bank has done for hundreds of years. That is short-sighted.
18:43 You have Ethereum miners in your office. Why?
20:00 Do Millennials understand cryptocurrencies better?
23:00 People that have made money with cryptocurrencies, to what degree were they just lucky?
23:50 Bitcoin is illogical.
24:00 Smart contracts will put pressure on law firms, Schebesta says.
28:00 Is the move away from cash the logical extension of cryptocurrencies?
31:30 You are launching an Australian crypto bank?
35:00 People think this is the great bubble in crypto, but there have been six bubbles already.

About the [i3] Podcast

The [i3] Podcast is a conversation with some of the leading institutional investors around the world, discussing their philosophy towards investing, in particular towards portfolio construction and investment strategy. The [i3] podcast is available on iTunes, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcast platform.