US economist Nouriel Roubini explains why Bitcoin isn’t a currency

• Nouriel Roubini has reiterated his opinion about Bitcoin, saying the cryptocurrency is never a currency.
• He argued that Bitcoin’s partial store of value function is based on nothing.

Popular United States economist and chairman of Roubini Macro Associates, Nouriel Roubini, has again reiterated his criticizing stance on Bitcoin, saying that the leading digital currency is “NOT a currency.” Although the US economist recognized that the cryptocurrency functions as a “partial” store of value, he took to his Twitter handle to explain that such a function is based on nothing. For years now, Nouriel Roubini has maintained a not-a-fan stance on Bitcoin. 

Dr. Doom says Bitcoin has no value

In a tweet on Monday, the US economist reiterated his opinion that the leading cryptocurrency is not a currency. While explaining this, Nouriel Roubini argued that Bitcoin doesn’t serve as a unit of account, and it’s not a scalable method for making payments. Additionally, Roubini added that the cryptocurrency isn’t a single numeraire, and it has no backing, neither has it been accepted by any jurisdiction as a legal tender.

On Bitcoin price volatility, the economist further argued that the cryptocurrency’s price is highly manipulated. As such, “its partial store of value function is based on nothing,” Nouriel Roubini added. 

Bitcoin is NOT a currency: it is not a unit of account, it is not a single numeraire, it is not a scalable means of payments, it is not backed by any asset, it is not legal tender, its price is highly manipulated & thus its partial store of value function is based on nothing.

— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) November 9, 2020

Nouriel Roubini long stance on Bitcoin

Nouriel Roubini became popularly known as ‘Dr. Doom,’ after forecasting the 2007-2008 economic crisis about two years before. The economist hasn’t been a supporter of Bitcoin and has referred to Bitcoin and other digital currencies as “the mother of all scams and bubbles.” Regardless of his opinion, however, the cryptocurrency industry has been striving. Bitcoin has also won the attention of prominent investors and institutions like MicroStrategy.

Other payment companies like PayPal have announced plans to enable Bitcoin services for its million users. Nouriel criticized the move, saying that PayPal’s interest in offering such services would affect his customer base.