Most of the serial critics had fallen silent during the crypto winter of 2018 as Bitcoin and its brethren fell out of favor in the mainstream media. Now that BTC has surged over 200 percent, breaking into five figures again, they have started crawling out of the woodwork, full of vitriol as usual.
Dr Doom: A Broken Record
Speaking at the Asia Blockchain Summit in Taipei, serial permabear Nouriel Roubini wasted no time bashing Bitcoin and all of those in the crypto industry. Using the same old tired rants he has spouted since BTC was priced at double digits, the economist clearly hasn’t changed his mind as the digital asset recovered back to within 45 percent of its peak.
Dr Doom is of the opinion that nearly everyone associated with crypto is a criminal or scammer. What he failed to acknowledge was the long list of banks that were embroiled in money laundering scandals over the past couple of years.
“Indeed the crypto space is full of criminals, con men, carnival barkers, conflicted insiders talking their book 24/7, whales screwing retail suckers, fraudsters, snake oil peddlers, price manipulators. 100X the amount of fraud and criminality that you find in traditional banks”
Indeed the crypto space is full of criminals, con men, carnival barkers, conflicted insiders talking their book 24/7, whales screwing retail suckers, fraudsters, snake oil peddlers, price manipulators. 100X the amount of fraud and criminality that you find in traditional banks https://t.co/XoDrFQ2OOe
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) July 2, 2019
The bitcoin bile did not stop there, following the public address Nouriel, clearly pumped full of hatred, took to Twitter to continue his crypto tirade.
“Bitcoin is now down below 10k. Has lost a third of its value in less than a week. Still a long way to less than zero as its true value is negative not zero given its toxic externalities! It will get to zero in due time.”
Indeed Bitcoin is now down below 10k. Has lost a third of its value in less than a week. Still a long way to less than zero as its true value is negative not zero given its toxic externalities! It will get to zero in due time. https://t.co/Ek87DvRq6t
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) July 2, 2019
‘CZ Is a Snake Oil Peddler’
Dr Doom was pulling no punches and went straight on the attack labeling the Binance boss a snake oil peddler after being called out for attending too many crypto conferences when he clearly loathes the industry and everyone in it.
“For a guy who doesn’t see the future of #crypto, but yet, spend days attending crypto conferences. This is the 2nd conference in Asia I overlapped with him this year. Does he have anything to do? Maybe he is the disguised Satoshi???”
The most pathetic critique I have heard about me is from this jerk @cz_binance; I was chosen as the 3rd most influential person in the world in the crypto space coz I am the only honest critic of this shitty space who isnt talking his book 24/7 the way you do snake oil peddler https://t.co/t3BlZ2aGpH
— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) July 2, 2019
BitMEX boss Arthur Hayes also came under the hammer but countered calmly, telling Bloomberg that he Dr Doom is simply a ‘hater’ and a ‘no coiner’. He added that price action and volumes clearly shows that there is something going on in crypto and it is set to continue.
When questioned why you should invest in Bitcoin and not gold, Hayes made a good point that gold is analogue and extremely difficult to transfer in large amounts whereas Bitcoin is digital and highly suited to a future of digital finance.
Those that despised digital assets to start with are unlikely to change their tune as they increase in value. Roubini’s vitriolic ranting has now become a source of entertainment to the tens of thousands of people that are now involved with this emerging yet still embryonic industry.
Image from Twitter