Published
6 years ago on
October 13, 2017
The future of Bitcoin has been long difficult to predict, and has left experts completely divided. Whilst some are convinced that Bitcoin will take off, and be hugely successful, others believe that it is on the brink of collapse. The latest expert to join the latter side of the debate is Harvard University professor, Kenneth Rogoff who simply believes that the collapse of Bitcoin is ‘inevitable’.
Who is this Bitcoin expert?
Like we mentioned, Kenneth Rogoff is a professor at Harvard University, where he teacher public policy and economics. He himself has a lot of educational achievements behind him, with degrees from Yale University and MIT. Between 2001 and 2003, he was the chief economist of the IMF, so it is understandable, and dare we say it, inevitable that his Bitcoin views would attract as much attention as they have.
What do his views mean for Bitcoin?
Rogoff once wrote; “Is the cryptocurrency Bitcoin the biggest bubble in the world today, or a great investment bet on the cutting edge of the new-age financial technology? My best guess is that in the long run, the technology will thrive, but that the price of Bitcoin will collapse…The long history of currency tells us that what the private sector innovates, the state eventually regulates and appropriates. I have no idea where Bitcoin’s price will go over the next couple of years, but there is no reason to expect virtual currency to avoid a similar fate”
Although he does accept that some governments, such as Japan have accepted and regulated virtual currencies, he does not believe that this will be the norm, and that most governments will actually ignore Bitcoin for small anonymous transactions, and then, once it becomes more widely used, they will actually act against it. His argument that Bitcoin will inevitable head towards a collapse is not a lone one and echo’s the views of Jamie Dimon. Dimon suggests that governments will not allow Bitcoin to become successful and will coerce Bitcoin users into abandoning it. Dimon in fact goes further in his predictions saying that not only do governments have the ability to shut down a virtual currency, but even that governments could threaten the Bitcoin users with jail.
What are the long-term effects?
Rogoff has not hidden the fact that he believes Bitcoin will eventually collapse, but has ultimately given no timeframe for this. This could be a smart move on his behalf, as it means that his prediction is likely to never be proven wrong. Even if Bitcoin reaches record prices, eventually, the coin might still crash – once again proving him wrong!
References And Further Reading:
- The CoinTelegraph; Collapse of Bitcoin Inevitable to Harvard Economics Professor
- CNBC; Bitcoin price bubble ‘will collapse’ while the tech that underpins it lives on, Kenneth Rogoff predicts
- The Guardian; Bitcoin’s price bubble will burst under government pressure. Kenneth Rogoff
