Bitcoin biggest bubble in human history, warns economist who predicted 2008 crash

New Delhi: Economist Nouriel Roubini, who is widely credited for predicting the global economic turmoil in 2008, has said that Bitcoin is biggest bubble in human history.

In an interview to Bloomberg Television, Roubini said that the cryptocurrency is “mother of all bubbles” and is finally crashing.

Nicknamed "Dr Doom", Roubini further added that there are more than 1,300 cryptocurrencies or initial coin offerings and “most of them are even worse” than Bitcoin.

He took to twitter, showing bitcoin's historic run compared to others such as the infamous tulip bulbs.

Now Bitcoin crashing below 8000, headed towards 7000. Down 60% from the peak, 40% in a month and over 10% today. The Mother Of All Bubbles And Biggest Bubble in Human History Comes Down Crashing. pic.twitter.com/jfILcrNNXA

— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) February 2, 2018

Cryptocurrencies plunged on Friday, with bitcoin at one point sliding below $8,000 and headed for its biggest weekly loss since December 2013, amid worries about a regulatory clampdown globally.

Roubini has further tweeted:

Bitcoin price heading south over the weekend towards a $7K handle (now down over 10% in last 24 hours to $8.2K). Will the wash traders react on Monday as they did on Friday and manipulate again the price upwards?https://t.co/0BHJWj7zWV — Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) February 4, 2018

Last week`s slump brought the total market value of cryptocurrencies down to around $400 billion, half the high it reached in January, according to industry tracker

Bitcoin, the biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, fell as much as 15 percent on Friday to a two-month low of $7,625 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. It clawed back some losses and was down around 5.6 percent at $8,498 in late New York trading.

The virtual currency was down by close to 25 percent last week and almost 40 percent in 2018. It surged more than 1,000 percent though in 2017.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, presenting the Union Budget 2018, said all crypto currencies, which include bitcoins, are illegal and the government will take all measures to eliminate their use.

He, however, said the government will explore use of blockchain technology proactively for ushering in the digital economy.

With Agency Inputs