Position: CEO, Xapo
Twitter: @wences
Wences Casares is the Founder & CEO of Xapo, and a Board Member at PayPal. Previously, Casares founded Lemon, which he sold to LifeLock for $42.6 million in 2013.
Xapo
Casares grew up in Argentina, where his parents were farmers. He claims his parents lost their savings multiple times because of inflation.
After Casares discovered Bitcoin in 2011, he could not find an easy way to store his coins.
With Xapo, Casares solved both his parents’ problem and his own. It allows anyone world to securely store Bitcoins–a currency resistant to government inflation.
Xapo has raised over $40 million in VC funding.
PayPal
In January 2016, PayPal appointed Casares as a Member of its board.
Quotes
On why Bitcoin is better than gold:
It’s much more scarce than gold. There will never be more than 21 million bitcoins. It’s more divisible than gold. Each bitcoin is composed of a million pieces called Satoshis. It’s much more durable, divisible, transportable…
On how Bitcoin helps the unbanked:
I truly believe that it may change the world more than the Internet did. I truly believe that [because of the] 4 billion people who live on cash today. It is the biggest step forward in the democratisation of money we’ve ever seen
On Bitcoin changing the world:
When I saw bitcoin, I said oh my god, this is the chance. It is going to change the lives of 5 billion people. It make take 10 years, 20 years, but who cares, this is what the Internet took and look at the impact it has had.
Video
Why Bitcoin is Better Than Gold, with Wences Casares