Even though Bitcoin and blockchain are still in their infancy, they have both been the “talk of the town” as experts contemplate the potential ramifications—good and bad—for virtually every industry. As the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is the first exposure many people have to blockchain technology. Many compare the transformative effect of blockchain to the disruption caused by the Internet, search engines and Google that changed the way we work, shop and communicate with one another. Everyone from world leaders to CEOs, and industry experts to investors are being asked their thoughts about Bitcoin and blockchain. Here are just a few of their opinions.   

“It’s gold for nerds.” —Stephen Colbert, Comedian     

“Bitcoin will do to banks what email did to the postal industry.” —Rick Falkvinge, Founder of the Swedish pirate party 

“Bitcoin is a technological tour de force.” —Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, investor, and philanthropist   

“Every informed person needs to know about Bitcoin because it might be one of the world’s most important developments.” —Leon Luow, Nobel Peace Prize nominee

“Bitcoin is the most important invention in the history of the world since the Internet.”—Roger Ver, Bitcoin angel investor, and evangelist

“Bitcoin, and the ideas behind it, will be a disrupter to the traditional notions of currency. In the end, currency will be better for it.”—Edmund Moy, 38th Director of the United States Mint

“Stay away from it. It’s a mirage, basically. In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say almost with certainty that they will come to a bad ending.”—Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway         

“Still thinking about #Bitcoin. No conclusion – not endorsing/rejecting. Know that folks also were sceptical when paper money displaced gold.” —Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs

“[Bitcoin] is a very exciting development, it might lead to a world currency. I think over the next decade it will grow to become one of the most important ways to pay for things and transfer assets.” —Kim Dotcom, CEO of MegaUpload

“It’s money 2.0, a huge huge huge deal.”—Chamath Palihapitiya, the previous head of AOL instant messenger

“[Virtual currencies] may hold long-term promise, particularly if the innovations promote a faster, more secure and more efficient payment system.”—Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve

“There are 3 eras of currency: Commodity based, politically based, and now, math based.”—Chris Dixon, Co-founder of Hunch now owned by eBay, Co-founder of SiteAdvisor now owned by McAfee

“I am very intrigued by Bitcoin. It has all the signs. Paradigm shift, hackers love it, yet it’s derided as a toy. Just like microcomputers.” —Paul Graham, Creator of Yahoo Store

“I really like Bitcoin. I own Bitcoins. It’s a store of value, a distributed ledger. It’s also a good investment vehicle if you have an appetite for risk. But it won’t be a currency until volatility slows down.” —David Marcus, CEO of Paypal

“Bitcoin is a classic network effect, a positive feedback loop. The more people who use Bitcoin, the more valuable Bitcoin is for everyone who uses it, and the higher the incentive for the next user to start using the technology. Bitcoin shares this network effect property with the telephone system, the web, and popular Internet services like eBay and Facebook.” —Marc Andreessen, entrepreneur & investor

“Instant transactions, no waiting for cheques to clear, no chargebacks (merchants will like this), no account freezes (look out Paypal), no international wire transfer fee, no fees of any kind, no minimum balance, no maximum balance, worldwide access, always open, no waiting for business hours to make transactions, no waiting for an account to be approved before transacting, open an account in a few seconds, as easy as email, no bank account needed, extremely poor people can use it, extremely wealthy people can use it, no printing press, no hyperinflation, no debt limit votes, no bank bailouts, completely voluntary. This sounds like the best payment system in the world!”—Trace Mayer J.D, a leading expert on Bitcoin and gold

“Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic achievement, and the ability to create something that is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value” —Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google

“You can’t stop things like Bitcoin. It will be everywhere, and the world will have to readjust. World governments will have to readjust” —John McAfee, Founder of McAfee

“Virgin Galactic is a bold entrepreneurial technology. It’s driving a revolution. And bitcoin is doing just the same when it comes to inventing a new currency.” —Richard Branson, entrepreneur, business owner for Virgin empire

“Ten percent of my net worth is in this space.”—Mike Novogratz, hedge fund manager, Galaxy Digital Assets

“Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential.”—Marc Kenigsberg, founder of Bitcoin Chaser

“Whereas most technologies tend to automate workers on the periphery doing menial tasks, blockchains automate away the centre. Instead of putting the taxi driver out of a job, blockchain puts Uber out of a job and lets the taxi drivers work with the customer directly.” —Vitalik Buterin, co-founder Ethereum and Bitcoin Magazine

“Maybe I’m just too old, but I’m going to let this mania go on without me.” —Jeffrey Gundlach, DoubleLine Capital CEO and Chief Investment Officer