Steve Wozniak thinks Ethereum could become as influential as Apple

Steve Wozniak thinks blockchain platform Ethereum has the potential to become as influential as Apple, the tech giant he co-founded with Steve Jobs.

"Ethereum interests me because it can do things and because it's a platform," Indo-Asian News Service quoted Wozniak as saying at a developer conference in Vienna.

Ethereum is an open-source public blockchain protocol founded by Joseph Lubin. 

Wozniak also said that he had a positive outlook on blockchain and virtual currencies owing to the fact that "they can change many different areas and industries".

The cryptocurrency Ethereum, which is based on the blockchain platform of the same name, has a market cap of around $68 billion. 

The Apple co-founder, who is a fan of cryptocurrencies based on blockchain, believes that that the emerging technology will reach its full potential in a decade.

At a conference last year, Wozniak had said bitcoin, which also based on the blockchain, is better than gold or the US dollar because it had a finite supply.

Wozniak also endorsed Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey's view which suggested that bitcoin was on its way to becoming the single largest currency globally.

His bullish outlook on bitcoin notwithstanding, Wozniak had a bad experience with the cryptocurrency earlier this year when he lost seven bitcoins to scammers using a stolen credit card.

He also said he had sold most of his cryptocurrency holdings as he felt the process of tracking their fluctuations was too cumbersome.

Ethereum in India
Ethereum's co-founder Lubin also crated a blockchain company named ConsenSys to harness the power of the technology. 

In March, ConsenSys, led by Kavita Gupta in India, said that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Andhra Pradesh government to spearhead its technology-driven education initiatives using blockchain technology. 

Last month, Gupta told TechCircle that ConsenSys had signed a non-binding agreement to make blockchain prototypes for the central government’s top policy think tank, Niti Aayog, across healthcare, education, land registry, supply chain, and more.