Reddit co-founder and popular technopreneur Alexis Ohanian is a proponent of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology. Even though most of 2018 was dominated by a ‘crypto winter’ where the price of cryptocurrencies continued to decline over the course of the year, Ohanian remains optimistic. 

In an interview with Yahoo Finance earlier this week, Ohanian commented that the one good thing that this period of downtrend did was that it eliminated the speculators from the markets. He pointed out that those who are still in the crypto markets are true believers in the technology and all those who were here for speculative reasons are gone. 

During the interview, he also acknowledged the fact that 2018 was indeed a ‘crypto winter’ and it persists even today. However, the ‘hype’ around cryptocurrencies and blockchain, which peaked particularly after the massive price rises of Q4 2017 has died down. However, as per the Reddit co-founder, this is a good thing. Ohanian said:

“Now, it's still to be seen. But what's a strong signal to me is still some of the smartest people I know in tech are working on solving these problems. They're building companies that are built on blockchain. The hype is gone. The fervor is gone. But I think that's a good thing.”    

Ohanian comments on JP Morgan’s JPM Coin

During the interview, Ohanian was also asked about his views on the JPM Coin cryptocurrency/stablecoin which was recently announced by banking giant JP Morgan. To this, Ohanian doubled down on his previous answer, saying that with the hype having died down, real innovation is finally happening. He pointed out that this coin from JP Morgan is indeed a good thing for the crypto markets.

Ohanian, however, also pointed out that JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon was once a fierce Bitcoin critic. Ohanian’s comments come at a time when the JPM Coin has found itself in a major crypto-controversy. A number of names in the crypto ecosystem don’t really consider JPM to be a true cryptocurrency because of its highly centralized and limited nature. 

Alexis Ohanian: A Crypto Proponent

The Reddit co-founder has shown a keen interest in cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology of late. Earlier in 2018, Ohanian stepped down from managing the day-to-day operations at Reddit to focus on his blockchain investments firm Initialized Capital. Moreover, Ohanian has, in the past, made major predictions including one where he claimed that Ethereum price would hit $15,000 in 2018.  

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