A Harvard economist says bitcoin is likely to be worth more than $ 100,000 over the next decade.
Kenneth Rogoff, a professor and economist at Harvard University, said on Tuesday that the price of bitcoin is likely to fall to $ 100 more than the digital currency trade of $ 100,000 a decade later.
“I think if we set out ten years from now, bitcoin will be a small fraction of its current value … I would think $ 100 would be more than $ 100,000 ten years from now,” Rogoff told CNBC. Squawk Box. “
A former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said, “If you take away the possibility of money laundering and tax evasion, its actual use as a tool will be minimal.”
Many illegal transactions have been linked to Bitcoin, the estimates of which vary in proportion to the use of digital currency used in illegal activities. According to Shone Anstein, co-founder and president of Blockchain Intelligence Group, the level of illegal transactions fell to 20 percent in 2016 and was “significantly less” in 2017.
Rogoff said the government’s regulations would lower bitcoin prices, although it would take time to develop a global regulatory framework.
“It has to be a global regulation. Even if the United States takes tough steps against it and China takes tough steps, even if Japan doesn’t, people will still be able to launder money through Japan,” he said.
According to the industry website CoinDesk, bitcoin was sold at around $ 11,242.61 during trading in Asia on Tuesday morning. The price of the digital currency has fallen this year from a record of more than $ 19,000 in December last year.
According to Rogoffa, the authorities are passive in regulating bitcoin, due to the expectation of the technology behind the digital currency.
“They want to see technological progress,” Rogoff said, adding that the private sector has historically “designed everything” from standard coins to paper money in currency history.
Bitcoin is an important growth area as an application of blockchain technology that allows transactions to be stored and recorded.
However, in the past there have been claims that bitcoin has become cheaper. Before bitcoin was sold in December last year, Rogoff said digital currency estimates would “collapse” in October last year amid attempts by governments to regulate space.