Altvest’s Board Chairman Dismisses Other Blockchain Projects

A few days ago, the capital market company Altvest Capital became the first publicly traded African company to adopt Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. This move was announced as part of a broader treasury management strategy that focused on strengthening the firm’s financial resilience and protecting its business from currency depreciation risks.

Stafford Masie, chairman of Altvest Capital’s board of directors – which played a crucial role in the company’s decision – has expressed his unwavering support for Bitcoin. A former head of Google for South Africa, Masie has been a prominent BTC advocate pushing for the adoption of the leading digital asset in the country.

Bitcoin or Nothing

During a session with a podcast for the crypto exchange VALR, Masie told the host, Farzam Ehsani, that he is a Bitcoin maxi who does not believe in other blockchain projects.

According to a podcast transcript shared with CryptoPotato, Masie sees every other blockchain as an interesting computer science project and a copy of Bitcoin that is trying to solve a problem in a niche, like offering a scalability solution for a challenge.

Masie revealed that he disliked other blockchain projects because they “murky the waters” and frequently get in the way of Bitcoin. With the market currently witnessing some sort of detachment between Bitcoin and altcoins, Masie believes people are beginning to see the difference between both ecosystems from a decentralization and security point of view.

Regardless, Masie insisted that he stands for Bitcoin only because every crypto entity inevitably moves back to it. He said whatever happens in “Bitcoin land” eventually ends up in the BTC space over the long term.

“But me, I am Bitcoin. I’ve always been Bitcoin. I mean, I’ve said it years ago. I don’t believe in blockchain projects…I love Bitcoin. I’m in Bitcoin and Bitcoin only. I’m a maxi,” the Altvest board chairman stated.

The Need For a South African SBR

Talking about the importance of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) for South Africa, Masie compared bitcoin (BTC) to gold. He asserted that the cryptocurrency had greater characteristics than the precious metal.

Citing Bitcoin’s deflationary model, fixed supply, and stock-to-flow ratio, Masie argued that its utility “foul-strips” that of gold. Masie thinks South Africans need to lobby for the government to invest a portion of national funds into Bitcoin because the long-term benefits are substantial.

In the meantime, Masie intends to utilize unused energy in South Africa to turn the country into a Bitcoin mining hub over the next few years.