Jordan Belfort, aka, the “Wolf of Wall Street” believes that Bitcoin, the top-ranked cryptocurrency is going to evaporate. The former penny-stocker broker who was pleaded guilty to fraud charges in 1999 is no stranger to espousing negative rhetoric about Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market in general.
All the Makings of a Scam
Speaking to CNBC as part of a documentary titled “Bitcoin: Boom or Bust,” Belfort expressed his staunch belief that BTC investors were heading for a sad end. According to Belfort, BTC is the next great scam that would render many people penniless after the bubble bursts. During the interview, the Wolf of Wall Street also said:
I was a scammer. I had it down to science, and it’s exactly what’s happening with bitcoin. The whole thing is so stupid, these kids have gotten themselves so brainwashed.
Belfort maintains that the BTC fraud plays into the modern-day world where the Internet has become a tool for manipulation. According to the former penny-stock broker, many ICOs are empty schemes doomed to fail which is why the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is right to take a hard-line stance against such offerings.
Bitcoin will Evaporate
As for Belfort, he believes that BTC doesn’t have long left to last, saying:
This thing [Bitcoin] is going to evaporate like a mirage. There’s a lot of really honest people who are going to get slaughtered.
The Long Island-based Stratton Oakmont chief also predicted that BTC would be dead within a year. According to Belfort, BTC’s death will echo across the globe describing it as “the bust heard around the world.”
These comments aren’t the first BTC obituary issued by Belfort. Speaking during a Facebook video in June, Belfort said BTC would soon be dead. At the time, the top-ranked cryptocurrency was in the midst of a significant decline, and Belfort jumped on the doomsday bandwagon predicting the end of the road for the popular virtual currency.
Belfort has also aimed at the ICO ecosystem before, labeling the fundraising method as ‘the biggest scam’ in 2017. Belfort isn’t the only notable Wall Street crypto critic. Others like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway have also made similar proclamations on multiple occasions in the past. The ‘Oracle of Omaha’ once described BTC as ‘probably rat poison squared.’
Do you agree with Belfort’s negative view about the future of Bitcoin? Keep the conversation going in the comment section below.
For quite by chance, I discovered Bitcoin in 2010 and I have been an ardent enthusiast ever since. I enjoy cryptography, mathematics, and theoretical physics. If I am not writing about cryptocurrency, I am attempting to beat my scrabble high score.
Discussion about this post
India’s Apex Bank Forms New Unit to Handle Blockchain Regulations
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – the country’s apex bank, has set up a department tasked with monitoring developments in cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence. This move comes as commercial banks are still prohibited from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions and the Supreme court decision on the matter expected later in September 2018.
Staying Ahead of the Blockchain and AI Curve
According to the Economic Times, the new unit within the RBI will be responsible for drafting rules and monitoring the latest developments in the emerging technology ecosystem. Inside sources at the RBI said that:
As a regulator, the RBI also has to explore new emerging areas to check what can be adopted and what cannot. A central bank has to be on top to create regulations. This new unit is on an experimental basis and will evolve as time passes.
The RBI is yet to make an official announcement about the existence of the department despite it being a little over a month old. Commenting on the matter, Piyush Singh, the financial services managing director at Accenture (the Asia Pacific and Africa region) said:
Unless regulators are part of the ecosystem, they understand and have a clear indication of what is accepted and what is not, it can neither protect the industry it regulates nor the consumers who use it.
All over the globe, financial institutions are critically examining the use of blockchain technology and the potential benefits it could hold for the industry. For their part, the RBI seems intent to stay ahead of the curve in a nascent industry that is rapidly expanding.
Blockchain not Bitcoin
While the RBI intends to keep itself abreast of the latest in the blockchain sphere, its attitude towards cryptocurrencies is another matter entirely. The Indian apex bank issued a ban on commercial banks, prohibiting them from offering banking services to cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the country.
The ban has generated a lot of controversy in the country with numerous stakeholders contesting the legality of the action. The Supreme court is expected to deliver its final judgment on the matter on September 11, 2018, after hearing preliminary arguments on the case earlier in July.