Bitcoin may have gripped the imagination of a section of investors due to its unassailable dominance in the cryptocurrency and ICO (Initial Coin Offering) market, however, leading market voices from India and around the world have time and again cautioned investors to stay away from it. Thomas Carper, a senior United States Senator once remarked, “Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us.” In an interview to CNBC in 2014, Warren Buffett had said that Bitcoin is a “mirage,” adding investors should, “stay away from it.” In the same interview, the Oracle of Omaha said, “It’s a method of transmitting money. It’s a very effective way of transmitting money and you can do it anonymously and all that. A cheque is a way of transmitting money, too. Are cheques worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money? …The idea that it has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke in my view.” Reiterating his view on Bitcoins, Warren Buffett told marketwatch in October this year–” You can’t value Bitcoin because it’s not a value-producing asset,” adding it’s a “real bubble in that sort of thing.”
According to Coindesk, Bitcoin has rallied close to 500 percent since the start of 2017. The rapidly surging price of Bitcoin, without any underlying asset or value-base, seems to have irked the top banker Jamie Dimon. “Bitcoin is a fraud and will blow up,” Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, said at a recent event in New York, adding, “The currency isn’t going to work.” He pointed out to the absence of an underlying monetary base to support its value. “You can’t have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart,” Jamie Dimon said.
While investors may be adding to their positions in the cryptocurrency market, Reserve Bank of India’s Executive Director Sudarshan Sen has said last month that the central bank is not comfortable with non-fiat cryptocurrencies. Elaborating on what is a non-fiat cryptocurrency, Sudarshan Sen said, “Bitcoins for example. That’s a private cryptocurrency.”
Renowned investor Jim Rogers, sometimes referred to as commodities guru, sounds a note of caution on the prospects of cryptocurrencies, preferring to stay away from them. “I wish I was smart enough to buy cryptocurrencies.” Jim Rogers said in a recent interview with Kitco news. Further, the commodities guru seemed to suggest that there might be a bubble building up in the cryptocurrency space. “It looks bubblish when you see the kind of price we see in bitcoins,” Jim Rogers said, adding that he doesn’t own any of the cryptocurrencies. “I certainly don’t know which one will come out on top, or if anyone comes out on top. But, I don’t own any.” With such reputed market voices shunning Bitcoins, will the Indian investor move away from the intriguing cryptocurrency?