Economist: Bitcoin is an extremely speculative asset with zero value

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.

Bitcoin is not a currency. It’s just a highly speculative asset with a fundamental value of zero. pic.twitter.com/leA4Fe9Ixz

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) March 26, 2023

Hanke accompanied his post with a cartoon criticizing Bitcoin.

A user under the handle MartyParty replied that the first cryptocurrency “is backed by 47,000 decentralized computers that constantly store a single ledger in memory.”

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?

— MartyParty (@martypartymusic) March 26, 2023

CEO of the DeFi protocol Cake, Julian Hosp, stated that the asset’s value is determined by three factors: utility, the number of people who need that utility, and its rarity.

Value is a function of 3 things in decreasing importance:
1. Utility
2. Number of people wanting that utility
3. Rarity of that Utility#Bitcoin has utility. We can argue how much, but it is definitely >0.
There are undoubtedly some people who want its utility.
Lastly, it is…

— Dr. Julian Hosp (@julianhosp) March 27, 2023

“Bitcoin 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,” he explained.

According to financial analyst Parker Evans, the first cryptocurrency has exactly three functions: money laundering, extortion and evading taxes.

Three use cases underpin Bitcoin’s functional utility: 1. Money laundering, 2. Extortion and ransom transactions 3. Tax evasion.

— Parker Evans, CFA, CFP (@HParkerEvans) March 27, 2023

In June 2021, Steve Hanke stated that the use of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador could completely wreck the country’s economy.

Back in February 2023, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki called the first cryptocurrency, gold and silver the best options for investing in times of instability.