This Economist Calls Bitcoin A ‘Snake Oil’ As BTC Price Corrects 5%

Throughout the month of September, Bitcoin (BTC) along with the overall crypto market has remained volatile. As of press time, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading ~5% down at a price of $45,755 and a market cap of $861 billion.

Steve Hanke, an economist at Johns Hopkins University has lashed out at Bitcoin in a recent attack. Referring to Bitcoin as a ‘snake oil’, Hanke noted that the crypto bulls are offloading their supply to retail players. In his recent Twitter message, Hanke writes:

Don’t buy the #Bitcoin snake oil the crypto bulls are selling. Its extreme volatility, susceptibility to fraud, and uncertainty are all reasons why BTC will never be suitable as a true currency.  Bitcoin is a highly speculative asset, with a fundamental value of ZERO.

Besides, the economist criticized El Salvador for its recent adoption of Bitcoin law. He noted how the El Salvadorian bonds have been in distress over the last two weeks since it introduced the Bitcoin law.

El Salvadoran Bonds have been in distress for 2 weeks now as a result of its newly passed bitcoin law. Friday alone, spreads for the 2025 and 2029 bonds rose by 32 and 5 basis points, respectively, against comparable US Bonds. pic.twitter.com/zvZ8t82ot6

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) September 20, 2021

As per the Reuters report last week, S&P Global also believes El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption can have immediate “negative implications” on its credit ratings.

“The risks associated with the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador seem to outweigh its potential benefits,” it added.

Bitcoin (BTC) Under Pressure

After a strong performance in August last month, Bitcoin has been trading under pressure in the month of September so far. It has been trading at negative returns over the last 20 days. But historically, September has been the month of selling pressure for Bitcoin and the overall crypto space.

However, Q4 has turned out to be positive for the world’s largest crypto. As a result, market analysts remain bullish and many believe that Bitcoin could hit $100K levels by the year-end.

I still believe that Q4 will be very bullish for #crypto and that #bitcoin will hit 100k by EOY. I also believe most will get totally caught up in the euphoria and hand most of their paper gains back to the market. Don't let that be you!

— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) September 20, 2021

The crypto market is full of volatility and nothing can be certain. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at nearly 50% gains year-to-date.