In an interview, Ben Bernanke, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve (FED), shared his opinion on Bitcoin with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. Which indicated that Bitcoin is mainly used in the underground economy for illicit activities.
«The main use of Bitcoin is mainly for underground economy activities. And often things that are illegal or illicit. It is a speculative asset. You’re looking at the downside of that right now».
Indeed, Ben Bernanke, made the comment after Bitcoin fell more than 55% from its all-time high in November.
We can say that, Ben Shalom Bernanke, born in 1953 in Georgia, USA. He is an American economist and politician of Jewish origin who served as president of the United States Federal Reserve (FED) for two terms from 2006 to 2014. And, he oversaw the Fed’s response to the financial crisis of the late 2000s, during his tenure.
Sometimes referred to as “Helicopter Ben”. For indicating in 2002 that the Federal Reserve could simply drop money from helicopters to avoid deflationary conditions.
Bitcoin will not become an alternative form of money
«I don’t think Bitcoin is going to take over as an alternative form of money».
In addition to the above, Ben Bernanke, went on to say: “If Bitcoin were a substitute for fiat money, you could use your Bitcoin to go buy your groceries. No one buys edible with Bitcoin, because it is too expensive and too inconvenient to do so. In addition, the price of groceries varies radically from day to day in terms of Bitcoin, so there is also no stability».
Likewise, Bernanke said that he does not believe that Bitcoin has the potential to serve as a “reserve of value» or «digital gold».
«Gold has an underlying use value. You can use it to fill cavities. The underlying use value of a Bitcoin is to make ransomware or something like that».
To close the idea, Ben Bernanke, said: “Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will exist, as long as people are believers and want to speculate».
As a curious fact, Peter Schiff, express: «Ben Bernanke rarely gets anything right. But he’s certainly right about Bitcoin. Understand that it is not a viable currency. And that, at best, it is a risky asset with no intrinsic value that derives its market price, based solely on speculative demand».
I close with this quote from Ben Bernanke: “The lesson of history is that you don’t get a sustained economic recovery while the financial system is in crisis».
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