An economist and co-winner of the Nobel Prize in 2022, Ben Bernanke shares his view on crypto. Bernanke’s Nobel Prize win was in the realm of economics due to his research on banks and the financial crisis. Due to the current state of the market, Bernanke has what to say to the public.
On December 7th, in an interview published by the Swedish journal Dagen Nyheter Bernanke mentioned that cryptocurrencies are not a threat. He detailed that crypto will not affect the financial system because no bank is in charge of these assets. Bernanke stated, “I believe that so far, cryptocurrencies have not been shown to have any economic value at all.”
Ben Bernanke’s negative remarks about crypto do not come as a surprise. In May, Bernanke said that bitcoin is “mostly for underground economy activities and often things that are illegal or illicit.” Despite being utilized as a speculative asset. He detailed that bitcoin will never become a legitimate and valid form of payment.
Regulation of Crypto
While many experts believe that regulation can make crypto mainstream. Ben Bernanke holds that regulated or not; crypto is on a downtrend. He explained, “Either way they are not regulated and then they will collapse because people distrust them, or they are regulated, and then they will collapse because they are mostly used for criminal activity.”
But in the past, Ben Bernanke was more receptive to the notion that bitcoin and other crypto assets might pose a threat to conventional fiat money. In 2017, Bernanke predicted that restrictions would be introduced to ban bitcoin if its transactional volume went above that of traditional currency. He said during this period, “eventually governments will take any action they need to prevent it.”