BITCOIN and other cryptocurrencies face a “crypto-apocalypse” because they are “scams and bubbles”, leading economist Nouriel Roubini has claimed. First warning the investors about the “scam” of cryptocurrency in 2013 controversial economist and professor at New York city’s stern school of business Nouriel Roubini has been a detractor of cryptocurrency from a long time.
Since his widely reported tirade against the cryptocurrency, its value has increased by eleven times
Mainly due to increased adoption and it’s growing promise.
Although he has been wrong about cryptocurrency he has expanded his attack now to the technology that underpins it blockchain. Roubini has doubled down his original claims.
Speculating that blockchain and DLT technology will soon become obsolete Roubini wrote in a recent post on Project Syndicate which was titled as “The Big Blockchain Lie”.
Highlighting the recent cryptocurrency market crash Roubini starts his attack in the article, exclaiming that many cryptocurrencies are down by 80 % + through the course of 2018. Equating the price action of the volatile markets to their adoption and success as fintech products.
Roubini fails to acknowledge that many of these cryptocurrencies are still up significantly on a one or two-year price chart.
Explaining that it was ‘most overhyped and least useful technology in human history’ Roubini described blockchain technology as ‘the last refuge to cryptocurrency scoundrel’ expanding on this cruel and inaccurate observation by referring to it as a “glorified spreadsheet.
Roubini compared block chain with a sword that is used by libertarians to plot the destruction of governments, financial institutions, and central banks.
In his article, he said “In practice, blockchain is nothing more than a glorified spreadsheet. But it has also become the byword for a libertarian ideology that treats all governments, central banks, traditional financial institutions, and real-world currencies as evil concentrations of power that must be destroyed. Blockchain fundamentalists’ ideal world is one in which all economic activity and human interactions are subject to anarchist or libertarian decentralization,”
However the groups Roubini mentions as being hated by proponents of blockchain technology are ironically the very groups which are propelling its worldwide adoption.
In order to increase their efficiency, many market Giants are heavily implementing blockchain technology to their infrastructure. JP Morgan on the largest financial institutions in the world is one such group. On its website, the group states “The Blockchain Center of Excellence (BCOE) leads efforts for applications of distributed ledger technology (DLT) within JPMorgan. We are exploring blockchain use cases and piloting solutions across business lines. We are active in the blockchain ecosystem: developing technology, investing in strategic partnerships, and participating in cross-industry consortia.” This clearly indicates their dedication to researching and utilizing blockchain technology. Blockchain center of excellence within the bank is a group which is exploring how the bank can best use blockchain and DLT technology expand their technical prowess.
The government’s worldwide are also giving impetus to blockchain research and implementing DLT into their own infrastructures.
Park Won-soon the governor of Seoul recently spoke about blockchain technology and governments openness to it He said “There’s no doubt blockchain is the core technology of the fourth industrial revolution, which will shape the future IT industry. I will make efforts to help Seoul become the center of a blockchain industry ecosystem.”
Despite continuous and relentless crusade by people like Roubini against cryptocurrency and blockchain technology widespread and real-world adoption continues to occur each day. With more and more organizations and institutions using DLT solutions used created by major companies like IBM.
The technology continues to grow and blossom day by day, it is very unlikely that Roubini will ever admit that he is wrong and will always be a small thorn in the side of the online cryptocurrency community
