Over the next ten years, Bitcoin is more likely to be $ 100 than $ 100,000, says Harvard economist
Harvard University professor and economist Kenneth Rogoff said Tuesday that, the probability of bitcoin prices falling by $ 100 is higher than digital currency trading at $ 100,000 a decade from now.
“I think bitcoin will be a little bit more of what it is now if we go ten years from now … I see $ 100 more likely than $ 100,000 ten years from now,” Rogoff said. CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“If you take the opportunity of money laundering and tax evasion, the actual use of it as a transaction vehicle is minimal,” the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
Many illegal transactions are associated with Bitcoin, estimates varying in the proportion of digital currency usage used in illegal activities. According to Shone Anstey, co-founder, and president of Blockchain Intelligence Group it is calculated that the level of illegal transactions dropped to 20 percent in 2016 and “significantly lower than that” in 2017.
The regulations introduced by the government could trigger a drop in bitcoin prices, Rogoff said, although he stressed that it would take time to develop a global regulatory framework.
“It needs global regulation. Even if the US goes down with it and China goes down, but Japan doesn’t, people can still do laundry through Japan,” he said.
According to industry site CoinDesk, Bitcoin traded at about $ 11,242.61 during Tuesday morning trade in Asia. The price of digital currency has fallen this year from a record more than $ 19,000 in December last year.
Authorities are acting passively about regulating bitcoin which is why the anticipation of the technology behind the digital currency, according to Rogoff.
“They want to see technological advances,” Rogoff said, adding that the private sector has historically “designed everything” in money history, from standardized coinage to paper money.
Bitcoin is an important part of growth as an application of blockchain technology that allows transactions to be maintained and recorded.
However, in the past there have also been claims about falling bitcoin prices. Before bitcoin was sold in December last year, Rogoff said in October that digital currency estimates would “collapse” amid attempts by governments to regulate the space.