Nassim Nicholas Taleb Renews Bitcoin Criticism, Calls it ‘Ultimate Sucker’s Game’
The 'Black Swan' author labels Bitcoin a poor store of value and a 'fool's magnet,' despite once supporting the digital asset.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the bestselling book “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” has reiterated his skepticism toward Bitcoin.
On Sunday, the essayist once again targeted the leading cryptocurrency on Twitter, stating it does not serve as a safe haven for investors. He characterized the digital asset as “the ultimate sucker’s game in a low-interest-rate environment.”
Taleb was once a proponent of Bitcoin, having previously lauded its merits as “a currency without government, something necessary and imperative.”
However, the author made a complete reversal in February 2021, declaring the digital asset a failure. On February 12, the renowned statistician disclosed he had begun selling his Bitcoin holdings. He criticized BTC’s volatility, also faulting it for not functioning as an effective means of payment.
Last June, Taleb published an essay titled “Bitcoin, Currencies and Bubbles,” in which he proposed “to apply quantitative finance methods and economic arguments to cryptocurrencies in general, and to Bitcoin in particular.” In the essay, the mathematician explains why he believes the digital asset fails both as a currency and as a hedge against inflation.
In July, Taleb tweeted that the leading cryptocurrency was “a fool’s magnet.”
By December, he stated that Bitcoin was the “wheezy” and “obsolete” product of low interest rates, predicting its collapse due to rising inflation. Last month, he likened the asset, attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, to “a contagious disease.”
Despite his critiques, the essayist does not rule out continued BTC price appreciation in the coming years. In an October 2021 tweet, he stated he was “not bearish on BTC,” suggesting it would be “irrational” to bet on its decline.
