{"id":76362,"date":"2023-03-29T11:36:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T08:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=76362"},"modified":"2025-09-10T16:59:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T13:59:34","slug":"economist-bitcoin-is-an-extremely-speculative-asset-with-zero-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/economist-bitcoin-is-an-extremely-speculative-asset-with-zero-value\/","title":{"rendered":"Economist: Bitcoin is an extremely speculative asset with zero value"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bitcoin is not a cryptocurrency, but simply a high-risk asset with zero fundamental value. This is the view of Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Bitcoin is not a currency. It\u2019s just a highly speculative asset with a fundamental value of zero. <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/leA4Fe9Ixz\\\">pic.twitter.com\/leA4Fe9Ixz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/steve_hanke\/status\/1640013237487026178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">March 26, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\\\"\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Hanke accompanied his post with a cartoon criticizing Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>A user under the handle MartyParty replied that the first cryptocurrency \u201cis backed by 47,000 decentralized computers that constantly store a single ledger in memory.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\" data-conversation=\\\"none\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Bitcoin is backed by 47000 decentralized computers which store a single ledger in memory at all times for perpetuity. What is your currency backed by sir?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MartyParty (@martypartymusic) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/martypartymusic\/status\/1640036316917256192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">March 26, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\\\"\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>CEO of the DeFi protocol Cake, Julian Hosp, stated that the asset\u2019s value is determined by three factors: utility, the number of people who need that utility, and its rarity.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\" data-conversation=\\\"none\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Value is a function of 3 things in decreasing importance:<br \/>1. Utility<br \/>2. Number of people wanting that utility<br \/>3. Rarity of that Utility<a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bitcoin?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">#Bitcoin<\/a> has utility. We can argue how much, but it is definitely >0.<br \/>There are undoubtedly some people who want its utility.<br \/>Lastly, it is\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dr. Julian Hosp (@julianhosp) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/julianhosp\/status\/1640277123356147712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">March 27, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\\\"\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>\u201cBitcoin has utility. That can be debated endlessly, but it is certainly not zero. Undoubtedly there are people who need its utility. After all, it is indeed rare. Therefore, your assertion that Bitcoin has zero value is 100% incorrect,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>According to financial analyst Parker Evans, the first cryptocurrency has exactly three functions: money laundering, extortion and evading taxes.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\" data-conversation=\\\"none\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">Three use cases underpin Bitcoin\u2019s functional utility: 1. Money laundering, 2. Extortion and ransom transactions 3. Tax evasion.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Parker Evans, CFA, CFP (@HParkerEvans) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HParkerEvans\/status\/1640310943845347328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">March 27, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\\\"\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>In June 2021, Steve Hanke <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/economist-switch-to-bitcoin-could-derail-el-salvadors-economy\">stated<\/a> that the use of Bitcoin <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/el-salvador-passes-bill-recognizing-bitcoin-as-legal-tender\">as legal tender<\/a> in El Salvador could completely wreck the country&#8217;s economy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Back in February 2023, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/robert-kiyosaki-says-bitcoin-is-the-best-hedge-in-a-crisis\">called<\/a> the first cryptocurrency, gold and silver the best options for investing in times of instability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bitcoin is not a cryptocurrency, but simply a high-risk asset with zero fundamental value. This is the view of Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,1138],"class_list":["post-76362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin","tag-opinions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"19","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76364,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76362\/revisions\/76364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}