A survey conducted by CNBC has found that while global finance bosses think bitcoin is real many believe it’s in a bubble and a fraud.
CNBC reports that ninety-seven chief financial officers (CFOs) on CNBC’s Global CFO Council were asked their view on bitcoin. Those that responded totalled 43. Out of that figure, 27.9 percent said the digital currency was ‘real but in a bubble.’ A further 14 percent believe that bitcoin is ‘real and is still going higher.’
Interestingly, 27.9 percent called the cryptocurrency a ‘fraud’ while 30.2 percent of CFOs stated that they don’t know enough about the digital currency to form an opinion. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, has, in the past, called the digital currency ‘a fraud’ and that it was ‘worth nothing.’
Karim Hajjar, chief financial officer of Solvay, an international chemist group, and a member of CNBC’s Global CFO Council, said that the jury was still out on the cryptocurrency.
He said:
It’s not a currency we are using for a multibillion dollar business … it’s something we are curious about, we are very very open to, but we haven’t found a way to really integrate it into our business.
The results of this survey comes at a time when bitcoin saw its value rise to above $8,000 on Monday. According to a report, the digital currency rose to $8,200 for the first time in its history. Such an increase in price goes in stark contrast to how the currency was trading a week ago. Then, bitcoin had fallen to a low of $5,500.
However, this recent rally in price shows that the digital currency has shaken off negative news that may have impacted its price and is embracing the positives.
One of which is the announcement that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) group announced at the end of October that it will be launching a bitcoin futures contract next month, pending regulatory approval. If all goes to plan it’s expected to launch mid-December. Such a possibility could also mean that U.K.-based hedge fund Man Group will add cryptocurrencies to its ‘investment universe.’
The dotcom bubble in the 90s, characterised by a rapid rise in equity markets fuelled by investments in Internet-based companies, created the same feelings that are being felt with bitcoin. Despite this, though, the currency is experiencing a huge amount of confidence that is pushing its price even higher. According to CoinMarketCap, bitcoin is trading at $8,266, pushing its market value up to $137.9 billion.