Crypto looks like the dotcom space of the 1990s, and bitcoin may not survive it, investment chief says

Crypto looks like the dotcom space of the 1990s, and bitcoin may not survive it, investment chief says

Cryptocurrencies are like the dotcom space of the 1990s, and bitcoin may well be overtaken by competitors in the way Microsoft and Google overtook the once-dominant Netscape Navigator, the chief investment officer of Société Générale's UK private bank has said.

Fahad Kamal, the investment boss at SocGen's Kleinwort Hambros bank, told Insider he is convinced the blockchain technology upon which bitcoin runs will be very important over the next decade.

But he said regulatory threats, its high energy use, and competition from other cryptocurrencies could mean bitcoin is not a part of the landscape over the next 10 years.

"The cryptocurrency space today looks very similar to the internet space in 1997," Kamal said. "In 1997, we thought Netscape Navigator was by far the most advanced sophisticated browser and there would never be anything to compete with that. And obviously here we are, Netscape is long [gone]."

He added: "In 10 years, I have no doubt that blockchain technology is going to be a very serious force in our lives. I have much, much less conviction or faith in whether bitcoin will be around that long."

Kamal said competition was a threat. "There are other cryptocurrencies“¦ which are arguably much better in their construction and