Over the next ten years, Bitcoin is more likely to be $ 100 than $ 100,000, a Harvard economist says
Harvard University professor and economist Kenneth Rogoff said Tuesday that the chance of bitcoin prices falling to $ 100 is greater than the chance of trading $ 100,000 in digital currency in ten years.
“I think Bitcoin is a fraction of what it is today if we quit in ten years … I would see $ 100 more likely than $ 100,000 in ten years,” Rogoff told CNBC. Squawk Box. “
“Excluding the possibility of money laundering and tax evasion, its actual use as a transaction tool is minimal,” said the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A lot of illegal transactions have been linked to Bitcoin, with estimates varying in relation to the use of digital currency used for illegal activities. According to Shone Anstey, a founding member and chairman of Blockchain Intelligence Group, the number of illegal transactions had dropped to 20 percent in 2016 and was “significantly less” in 2017.
Rogoff said the regulations introduced by the government will cause bitcoin prices to fall, although he stressed that developing a global regulatory framework will take time.
“It has to be global regulation. Even if the United States tightens it and China tightens, but Japan won’t, people can still launder money through Japan,” he said.
According to industry website CoinDesk, Bitcoin traded for about $ 11,242.61 during Tuesday morning Asia trading. The price of the digital currency has fallen this year from a record high of more than $ 19,000 last December.
Authorities have been passive in regulating bitcoins, according to Rogoff, due to anticipation of the technology behind the digital currency.
“They want to see advances in technology,” Rogoff said, adding that the private sector has historically “designed” everything from a standardized coin in its history to a paper currency.
Bitcoin is a major growth area as an application of blockchain technology that allows transactions to be maintained and recorded.
However, there have been allegations in the past of falling bitcoin prices. Before Bitcoin was sold out in December last year, Rogoff said last October that estimates of the digital currency would “collapse” as governments seek to regulate the space.