The believers of cryptocurrencies say that the distributed ledger technology (blockchain) and digital money will cause a revolution in our lives. However, some critics of the technology see a considerably darker future ahead of us.

The Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, which works at Columbia University, is among the critics of the cryptos that believe that these unregulated financial assets should not be used without any central authority to control them and bar anonymity. He believes that this is basically an open door for criminals ready to be used.

Stiglitz believes that Bitcoin is a hole for criminals and that no government should allow that. He also believes that, if you intend to create a transparent transaction system, it cannot be anonymous because that would be the exact opposite as transparent.

He also defends the idea that, as the cryptocurrency market grows, authorities will be quick to regulate it and that “once it becomes significant they will use the hammer”.

In fact, the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission has already begun to create policies to regulate the market and decide how to handle it. Stiglitz also defends that regulation will kill Bitcoin because most people would use it to launder money. This way, if you cannot make criminal activities with the token anymore, there would not be any demand for it.

His vision about Bitcoin is so negative that he believes that, by regulating the abuse, you can regulate Bitcoin out of its existence.

Stiglitz’s vision is a large way from becoming the mainstream norm. Goldman Sachs has been announcing plans to deal with Bitcoin since May and other banks followed it. Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capitalist, has launched a fund for crypto and Barclays in the United Kingdom has already made a deal with Coinbase.

Bitcoin investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have stated that the older generation does not understand Bitcoin, as not only Stiglitz, but Warren Buffet, Christine Lagarde, Bill Gates and Jamie Dimon have all criticized the token.

The truth is that it is very hard to know for sure whether Bitcoin will survive or not as it is a relatively new asset. More conservative investors and economists, even when they advocate for more transparent and digital transactions, are still against Bitcoin.

According to them, the world may need the blockchain technology but this does not mean that it needs Bitcoin, as Stiglitz recently affirmed.

With a market cap of $116 billion USD and a price just under $6,700 USD, what is the future of Bitcoin? The only way to know for sure is by waiting to find out.

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