Bitcoin Is the Last Thing People Will Need If Global Crisis Erupts, Prominent Short-Seller Says

Despite Bitcoin (BTC) being around for almost a decade now, the technology is still considered relatively young. And experts are still figuring out whether this digital currency is good or bad for the economy.

Steve Wozniak recently said he considers BTC as “pure digital gold.” Now, hedge fund tycoon Jim Chanos has criticized the cryptocurrency as something “masquerading as a technological breakthrough,” Cointelegraph reported.

Chanos added that should a global crisis erupt, it makes more sense to own food or a government-backed fiat currency than having Bitcoin on your side. The tycoon recently spoke at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, where he warned people about investing in cryptocurrency despite admitting last year that Bitcoin and blockchain are a foreign concept to him.

Chanos pointed out that if a global catastrophe occurs, the government would intervene and provide lenders with fiat currency, something that cryptocurrency is unable to do since it’s a decentralized system. “The last thing I’d want to own is Bitcoin if the grid goes down,” Chanos remarked.

The prominent short-seller rose to fame when he correctly predicted the fall of U.S. energy giant Enron. Now, he has joined naysayers denouncing Bitcoin as nothing more than a passing fad in the financial market.

During his talk, he also touched on the debunked notion that Bitcoin’s only utility is for tax evaders, money launderers and other dubious entities trying to commit financial crimes. It’s also worth mentioning that others who were staunch critics of Bitcoin in the past now changed their stances about cryptocurrency, adopting policies that would leverage the new technology for their benefit.

Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in December last year that Bitcoin doesn’t interest him but did a complete turnaround as he spearheaded a meeting regarding policy-making to increase exposure to crypto assets. Time will tell if Chanos’s stance will change just like Blankfein did and if he will join the ranks of those who are trying push Bitcoin beyond its limit.