One time Chief Economist at IMF Thinks Governments Will Win By Not Allowing Bitcoin Go Mainstream

By: Michael Wilson

January 25, 2021 2:02 PM

Economist and former Chief Economist at International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kenneth Rogoff speculates that government will fight to curb bitcoin from flourishing on a larger scale.

He went on and said: "The regulation will come in. The government will win", Harvard University professor also talked about likelihood of a bitcoin bubble.

During an interview with Bloomberg surveillance last week professor Kenneth Rogoff warns and predicts strict crypto regulations.

“It’s speculative,” he began. “I’ve been a bitcoin skeptic and certainly the price has gone up.” However, Rogoff argued, “there’s sort of an ultimate question of what’s the use. Is it just valuable because people think it’s valuable? That is a bubble that would blow up.”

He further discussed: “I can see bitcoin being used in failed states. It’s conceivable it could have some use in a dystopian future.” Nonetheless, he emphasized, “I think the governments are not going to allow pseudonymous transactions on a big scale. They’re just not going to allow it.” The Harvard economics professor elaborated:

The regulation will come in. The government will win. It doesn’t matter what the technology is.

“So, I think over the long run if there’s not use, the bubble will burst. I hope there’s not such a valuable use but I suppose it’s a hedge against dystopia,” he further opined.

Rogoff was then asked, “would you advise Secretary Yellen at Treasury that the U.S. should be proactive in instituting that regulation which could collapse the price of cryptocurrency?”

He simply replied: “Yes, that’s just true across the board. It needs to be regulated … I think governments are on it. It’s not being used that widely and I suspect although the bitcoin lobbyists have been successful in getting it in some places, that won’t last.”

However, Rogoff has long been known to be a bitcoin skeptic. In 2018, he told CNBC that the cryptocurrency was more likely to be worth $100 than $100K a decade from then. “If you take away the possibility of money laundering and tax evasion, its actual uses as a transaction vehicle are very small,” the former IMF chief economist said.