"Dr. Doom" Roubini: Bitcoin's giant bubble is about to burst

Source: Cailianshe

Author: Zhou Ling

Cailian Press (Shanghai, editor Zhou Ling) reported that as the price of Bitcoin continued to break historical records, Nouriel Roubini, a well-known economist who accurately predicted the 2008 financial tsunami and was known as "Dr. Doomsday", said on Thursday (24th) Eastern Time that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies known as "sh-tcoins" have no intrinsic value and should not appear in the portfolios of retail or institutional investors.

Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at the Stern School of Business at New York University, is considered the "number one hater" of Bitcoin. This is his latest round of criticism against Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin has hit new highs in recent days. Since it broke through the $20,000 mark on December 16, Bitcoin has continued to rise amid fluctuations in recent days, and once broke through $24,000.

Roubini slammed Bitcoin's crazy move, insisting that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value and that its price has reached recent highs.

"First, call it a currency - it's not a currency. It's not a unit of account. It's not a means of payment. It's not a stable store of value. Second, it's not even an asset," Roubini said.

Roubini stressed that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value. He pointed to assets — bonds, stocks, real estate or precious metals — that either provide income, capital gains or some form of utility.

"However, Bitcoin provides no income. It has no usability, no utility, and the only thing is that it is a speculative, self-fulfilling growth that is entirely driven by manipulation ," Roubini said.

Roubini pointed to academic research that shows that “the leash of this virtual stablecoin is created by fiat money” and is “actually used to manipulate the price of Bitcoin.”

Roubini pointed out that "the price of Bitcoin is completely manipulated by a group of people and a group of market 'whales'. It has no fundamental value and is close to the moment when a giant bubble bursts ."

Roubini is not the only well-known investor who has a negative view on Bitcoin. Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world's largest hedge fund, also believes that if the price of Bitcoin continues to rise, it will only force the government to take action.

Dalio believes that Bitcoin lacks a real place to accept cryptocurrency transactions. In addition, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are too volatile to be considered an effective means of wealth storage.

But as Bitcoin continues to rise, in recent months, Bitcoin has been accepted by well-known institutions such as JPMorgan and BlackRock. Foreign media commented that the enthusiasm of institutions and smart money for Bitcoin may be based on its efficient and inalienable value storage properties.

Recently, Deutsche Bank surveyed its clients and most people believed that Bitcoin will trade higher in 2021, between $20,000 and $49,999 .

Less than a third of respondents believe that the price of Bitcoin will be below $20,000 in 2021. 12% of respondents believe that the price of Bitcoin will exceed $100,000 in 2021.