The bitcoin price has recently fallen below $ 6,000 , while at the beginning of January its value was $ 15,000 .
According to Julien Prat, an economics researcher at CNRS and lecturer at Polytechnique, the recent fluctuations in the value of bitcoin clearly show that cryptocurrency favors the emergence of speculative bubbles:
Here's what he told Business Insider France:
"Bitcoin promotes the emergence of speculative bubbles because it is very difficult to evaluate its fundamental value."
But the economist, who teaches a course on bitcoin and blockchain at Polytechnique, said this is not the biggest problem of bitcoin. Indeed, the prices of money and gold are also supported by financial bubbles, but they both have something that cryptocurrency does not have:
Strictly speaking, there is a bubble when the price at which a security is traded exceeds its fundamental value Since neither money nor gold generates financial income, their prices can only be supported by financial bubbles. 'However, they are' sustainable 'bubbles because they rely on the credibility of the state in the case of money, or on a millennial tradition in the case of gold. "
On the contrary, bitcoin "can not be used as exchange money" because its value is too unstable.
Even if bitcoin can not be considered a currency because it does not fulfill its main function, this cryptocurrency can be a hidden store of value for those who practice tax evasion, are subject to capital controls as in China or for illegal activities, summarized Julien Prat.
