Nouriel Roubini continues to scream himself hoarse, espousing the same flawed rhetoric about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The New York University professor and Economist dominated the news recently with his ongoing diatribe against virtual currencies and decentralized technology.
The Same Well-worn Cryptocurrency and Criminality Rhetoric
From last week’s Blockshow conference in Las Vegas to his testimony before the US Congress and a series of rants on Twitter, Dr. Doom – as Nouriel Roubini is known in financial circles – has been reliving many of his greatest hits as far as virtual currencies are concerned.
According to Roubini, cryptocurrency is nothing but a ‘stinking cesspool,” and they have poor fundamentals. Speaking before Congress on Wednesday, Roubini characterized the digital asset community as:
Scammers, swindlers, criminals, charlatans, insider whales and carnival barkers (all conflicted insiders) tapped into clueless retail investors’ FOMO (“fear of missing out”), and took them for a ride selling them and dumping on them scammy, crappy assets at the peak that then went into a bust and crash — in a matter of months — like you have not seen in any history of financial bubbles.
Everyone from the DEA to security experts all say that cryptocurrency is a poor form of money for money launderers, drug traffickers, and even jihadists. He makes no mention of how virtual currencies are contributing to better financial inclusion on a global scale.
From lower remittance fees to creating easier access to foreign payments in places like Africa and Southeast Asia, cryptocurrencies have contributed to improving the wellbeing of historically disenfranchised localities. However, you won’t hear Dr. Doom acknowledge these things.
Presented without comment. @Nouriel$BTC $GOLD $XAU pic.twitter.com/uNkOtkQn0I
— Kekec (@CryptoKekec) October 11, 2018
Decentralization is a Myth
Not content with simply haranguing crypto, Roubini also came gunning for blockchain technology, declaring it to be “the most over-hyped – and least useful – technology in
human history: in practice, it is nothing better than a glorified spreadsheet or database.” According to the NYU professor, the solutions developed on the blockchain do not scale, aren’t secure, and were, for the most part, centralized.
Roubini then goes on to make many factually incorrect claims saying Bitcoin fees are $55 whereas, transaction fees are an average of about $0.06. He also attacked Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin personally, accusing him of being a paper billionaire. Alas, Buterin has never owned more than 0.9 percent of Ether tokens.
Most of Roubini’s claim to fame comes from ‘predicting’ the 2008 global financial meltdown. Well, so did Peter Schiff. A broken clock is right twice in a day but Roubini is no oracle. His research firm, RGE, lost millions of dollars a few years back.
The NYU professor is an obvious nocoiner who misses the mark completely when it comes to understanding tokenomics. Even in mainstream economics, he isn’t exactly a know it all, failing to acknowledge signs of recovery post-2008 crisis.
Roubini is a one-trick pony who only knows how to be a prophet of doom. The cryptocurrency and blockchain technology market should concentrate on developing the industry rather than paying heed to the nattering of a Fed-sponsored, anti-crypto FUD peddler.
Where do you stand on the cryptocurrency and blockchain utility debate? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Image courtesy of Twitter (@CryptoKekec), Flickr