Despite the growing popularity and acceptance of Bitcoin, every now and then there is someone who lambastes it.
Recently, it was Nouriel Roubini, an economist and professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, who attacked cryptocurrencies, calling them the “mother of all scams and bubbles.”
Jan-Willem Burgers, the technology lead at Capgemini’s Distributed Ledger Practice, came to Bitcoin’s rescue after Roubini’s testimony with an op-ed piece, in which he refuted several arguments posited by Roubini in his testimony. These included those surrounding Bitcoin’s value, its decentralized character, and its suitability for being considered as money, reports Nasdaq.
The World Will Come to Value Bitcoin, Says Burgers
Among Roubini’s main arguments is that Bitcoin is not money as it not a serviceable unit of accounts, means of payment, or store of value. Burgers refutes his argument saying that Bitcoin is sound digital money as it’s a better store of value and enables financial sovereignty.
Burgers validates his argument about Bitcoin being a good store of value by explaining that there is a hard guarantee on the scarcity of the number of coins, and it’s easier to manage its divisibility, transportation, and storage than that of gold. He also highlights Bitcoin’s resilience saying that it has “shown great resilience in the face of attacks over the last decade.”
Burgers also underscores the fact that the cryptocurrency’s transactions are practically uncensorable at present, and as a digital bearer asset, it is resistant against being confiscated when stored properly. Bitcoin also offers users an opt-out to the government fiat and the banking system, and thus enables financial sovereignty. Thus, the world will come to value it when they gain a better understanding of it, and the cryptocurrency starts becoming more practically useful to everyone and not just tech-savvy people.
There are other prominent figures in the industry who have expressed opinions about Bitcoin, which are similar to Burgers’. Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economic adviser at Allianz, a German-based economic services provider, had earlier stated that Bitcoin will be a means of exchange, a tradeable commodity-like asset and a store of value. The World Gold Council in its annual report had also written that Bitcoin’s future diminishing growth rate and ultimate finite quantity, like gold’s scarcity and marginal annual growth were attractive attributes.
Burgers also noted the decentralized nature of Bitcoin in response to Roubini’s statements about the massive centralization of mining. Burgers counters his argument by saying that Bitcoin’s decentralized nature is evident from the fact that the Bitcoin Cash fork and the New York Agreement in 2017 failed, both of which were initiatives induced by a small group of actors aiming to implement changes against the will of the majority.
Burgers, however, is not in favour of decentralization in all contexts. He stated that he was not comfortable with the idea of having his medical data, identity or his house registered on the Bitcoin blockchain.
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