Original title: Bitcoin’s number one “black fan” Roubini: Bitcoin price has been manipulated Source: Golden Ten Data
Roubini accurately predicted the 2008 financial tsunami and was called “Dr. Doom.” In the interview, he focused on Bitcoin. Here are the main points of the interview:
On whether Bitcoin is worth investing in
At present, the price of Bitcoin has reached a recent high, with the latest transaction price exceeding $23,500. Roubini previously stated on social software that Bitcoin should not appear in the portfolio of institutional investors or retail investors. But in fact, many well-known institutional investors are rushing into the Bitcoin field, and more and more retail investors are joining in.
In this regard, Roubini attacked Bitcoin. He believed:
First of all, it is wrong to call Bitcoin a currency, it is not a currency. It is also not a unit of accounting, not a means of payment, and cannot maintain stable value.
Bitcoin cannot even be regarded as an asset. Assets have both income and purpose, as well as capital gains, such as bonds, stocks, and real estate; or, like precious metals, although they do not bring income, they have industrial uses and can be used as Jewelry can also be used as a capital gain. Bitcoin has neither revenue, use, nor utility.
He believes that the only attribute that Bitcoin possesses is a speculative, self-fulfilling rise, and this rise is entirely driven by market manipulation.
He mentioned another cryptocurrency-TEDA as an example. He pointed out that academic research has shown that the pseudo-stable currency TEDA is actually a legal currency created to manipulate the price of Bitcoin. This year alone, the supply of TEDA coins has increased from the initial US$4 billion to US$20 billion, an increase of 16 billion US dollars!
This is because the price of Bitcoin is completely manipulated by a group of “predators”. Whenever the price of Bitcoin drops, they will issue more TEDA coins to manipulate the price of Bitcoin.
Therefore, Roubini believes that Bitcoin has no fundamental value. In 2017, the scale of Bitcoin rose from 100 billion U.S. dollars to 200 billion U.S. dollars. In 2018, it fell from 2 trillion U.S. dollars to 300 billion U.S. dollars. Roubini believes that the Bitcoin bubble is about to burst because the regulatory authorities are dealing with TEDA and the companies behind it. Conduct a rigorous investigation.
Roubini said that just as the largest fraud company, the cryptocurrency exchange and derivatives trading platform BitMex, was sued, people can also sue the company behind TEDA. If this is the case, Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies will collapse in the next few months. Roubini once again emphasized that Bitcoin is not a currency, they are just rubbish coins.
Why does the government’s crackdown on another cryptocurrency affect Bitcoin?
In response to Roubini’s statement, the host further raised questions: Why would the government’s crackdown on another cryptocurrency TEDA be implicated in Bitcoin?
In response to this, Roubini responded that the research team including the University of Texas at Austin used academic research to show that whenever the price of Bitcoin weakens, more TEDA coins will be issued. TEDA coin is actually an illegal pseudo stable currency. There is no asset behind it for price support. It is issued only for the purchase of Bitcoin. This is actually a manipulation of Bitcoin prices.
Roubini said that there is a lot of evidence that there are many cases of manipulation of cryptocurrencies. Many people drive up prices and then sell at rallies. For example, on platforms such as Telegram and WhatsAPP, hundreds of channels are preempting transactions. This is a wash transaction. The phenomenon of price manipulation in Bitcoin is ten times that of low-priced stocks in the stock market. Therefore, the rise in Bitcoin price is not driven by fundamentals, but by insiders, scammers, and predators.
This is why Roubini believes that criminal investigations of cryptocurrencies will reach a climax in the coming months.
What is the difference between central bank digital currency and Bitcoin?
The host also asked: What do you think of the fact that central banks in all countries in the world are creating digital currencies? How are they different from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?
Roubini said that the central bank will introduce digital currencies, but these digital currencies have nothing to do with cryptocurrency or blockchain.
He said that all commercial banks in the United States have a bank account with the Federal Reserve, and as individuals, we cannot enter the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve;
“But under the concept of central bank digital currency, we as individuals can also participate in the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve. The concept of’central bank digital currency’ is different from the’digital currency’ that has existed for decades. The digital currency mentioned refers to digital payment systems such as bank accounts, wire transfers, Alipay, WeChat, and the central bank’s digital currency does not mean that it will be digital, but that individuals like you and me can use the Fed’s balance sheet.”
Roubini added that if the central bank introduces digital currency, we do not need to conduct transactions through bank deposits, but can conduct fast, low-cost instant transactions through a payment system that immediately clears and settles:
“So, once the central bank introduces digital currencies instead of encrypted currencies-they are just junk coins without any payment purpose, then digital payment systems such as bank deposits, Alipay, WeChat, etc. will all be dominated by the central bank’s digital currencies.”
Roubini once again emphasized that the central bank’s digital currency has nothing to do with blockchain and cryptocurrency. It will be a system that any individual can use, not just a “public ledger”:
“Therefore, it is an incorrect view to call it a cryptocurrency. It is the central bank’s digital currency, which will completely change the payment system and destroy any’pseudo-cryptocurrency’ that is neither encrypted nor currency! “
Roubini said that when people talk about the central bank’s digital currency, they don’t know the concept of the central bank’s digital currency, and they feel excited, thinking that “even the central bank has begun to use encrypted currency”, but their thinking is wrong.
