Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says the main use of bitcoin is “mostly for underground economy activities and often things that are illegal or illicit.” He added, “I don’t think bitcoin is going to take over as an alternative form of money.”
Ben Bernanke discusses Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
In an interview Monday with CBNC, Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve shared his views on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Bernanke was an economist and served two terms in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s chairmanship, 2006-2014. He oversaw the Fed’s response to the late 2000s financial crisis during his tenure as chairman.
He said that Bitcoin and other crypto currencies’ values are constantly changing.
They’ve been successful as a speculative asset.
However, he pointed out that “They were intended to be a substitute for fiat money,” adding that “in that respect, they have not succeeded.”
He continued: “If bitcoin were a substitute for fiat money, you could use your bitcoin to go buy your groceries. Nobody buys groceries with bitcoin because it’s too expensive and too inconvenient to do that. Moreover, the price of groceries … varies radically day-to-day in terms of bitcoin so there is no stability either.”
He said:
Bitcoin is primarily used for illegal and illicit activities in the underground economy.
Bernanke also stated:
I don’t think bitcoin is going to take over as an alternative form of money.
Nonetheless, he expects that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies “will be around as long as people are believers and they want to speculate.”
When asked if BTC is a store of value or digital gold in his opinion, Bernanke insisted that “it is a speculative asset.”
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