By Miguel Gomez - November 09, 2017 (cryptovest.com)
The man who predicted the 2008 subprime lending crisis foresees an eventual end to Bitcoin due to its speculative bubble and pressure from regulations.
Nouriel Roubini is one of the men who sounded the alarm on the subprime lending crisis that happened back in 2008. What makes him stand out from the crowd is his decades of experience analyzing the economy and advising the government on policy decisions that may affect it.
Yesterday, he sat down for an interview with Business Insider, and while his opinion of the economy in the West is not very optimistic, even less could be said about what he thinks of Bitcoin.
After deriding banks in Spain and Greece for being full of bad loans, he then went on to say that there is a “gigantic speculative bubble revolving around Bitcoin.”
On the other hand, the man had nothing but great words to share about the potential applications for blockchain technology.
“First of all, I would separate the blockchain from the bitcoin. Blockchain creates an enormous chance to increase productivity in many companies and I think the technology to be something very good. But the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – this is something entirely different. In my opinion, there is a gigantic speculative bubble related to the bitcoin,” said Roubini.
He appears to share the attitude that Severin Cabannes—deputy CEO of Société Générale—had towards blockchain when he spoke to Bloomberg last Friday.
During the interview, Cabannes expressed that the bank is “not very keen to invest in Bitcoin, but […] very keen to invest in blockchain technology.”
Roubini considers that Bitcoin’s future may be jeopardized by the countries attempting to draft regulations against its use and exchange.
“There are no fundamental reasons for [Bitcoin’s] price to reach such levels. What’s more – it is also used by criminals, for their shady business. I think that more and more countries will start to make cryptocurrency exchanges illegal like China did. New regulations will be adopted. So, this will find its end,” he said.
He isn’t necessarily wrong. If Bitcoin becomes too tricky to use, purchase and acquire in most of the world, it will likely experience a sharp decline in value as people attempt to sell it back for its equivalent in local currencies.
Such a decline would probably not end Bitcoin entirely, but it would reduce its global influence long before it becomes a veritable mainstream asset.
However, the fact that options exchanges in the United States are taking the cryptocurrency seriously might just give it the credibility it needs to resist efforts to regulate it, at least in North American and European markets.
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