Ben Bernanke, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, made his views against Bitcoin clear at a conference organized by Ripple in Toronto.
Echoing the views of J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Bernanke feels that the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, which puts it outside government control, will trigger its downfall. Speaking at Swell, a three day conference organized by Ripple in Toronto, Bernanke said:
“Bitcoin is an attempt to replace fiat currency and evade regulation and government intervention. I don’t think that’s going to be a success.”
He attributed the current run up in price of Bitcoin to its speculative nature and felt that Bitcoin hasn’t proven itself as a transactional currency. In his opinion the government will eventually step in to prevent Bitcoin from rivalling fiat currency.
Blockchain, not Bitcoin
While dismissing the possibility of Bitcoin becoming a successful alternative to fiat currency, Bernanke was all praise for the Blockchain. As reported by Fortune, Bernanke said:
“The Fed, the Bank of England, and Japan are very supportive of these technologies because they’ll improve payment systems.”
He praised Ripple for working with regulators and observed that a Blockchain-based system might have prevented hackers from robbing $80 mln from the Central Bank of Bangladesh.
Flip Flop Views on Bitcoin
Ben Bernanke’s views on Bitcoin have changed over the years. In 2013, during a Senate Committee hearing, he called virtual currencies ‘innovative payment systems’ and said that the Fed had no plan to regulate them. In 2015, he said that Bitcoin’s volatility and anonymous nature were serious problems. The market however, seems to be ignoring Bernanke and Dimon’s views on Bitcoin and pushing it to scale ever higher peaks.