We Look At All The Things That Are Wrong With Roubini’s “Central Bank Crypto Love Letter”

Nouriel Roubini has become a love-hate figure for many within the crypto community, primarily because of his outlandish proclamations and attention seeking tactics. In this regard, Roubini has recently penned a provocative piece in which he praises central bank issued coins and how they are “allegedly” better that digital currencies.

While many crypto enthusiasts treat Roubini like an internet troll, the fact that he has such a huge internet following is quite alarming. In his latest op-ed piece titled “Why Central Bank Digital Currencies Will Destroy Cryptocurrencies”, Roubini talks in-depth about how thinks Bitcoin is doomed to fail eventually and that alt-currencies in general will not survive the coming few years (because of their ever decreasing demand).

At this point, it is also worth noting that Roubini has been a staunch anti-Bitcoin guy since the days when the premier asset was being traded for a meagre USD $40. However, since 2011, he has constantly been wrong about Bitcoin’s evaluation (especially since the altcoin’s price has scaled up monumentally over the past couple of years).

In terms of the content of his latest tirade, Roubini did acknowledge the fact that we were slowly moving towards a cashless society. However, upon saying that, he then went on to add that:

“Starry-eyed crypto-fanatics have seized on policymakers’ consideration of CBDCs as proof that even central banks need blockchain or crypto to enter the digital-currency game. This is nonsense. If anything, CBDCs would likely replace all private digital payment systems, regardless of whether they are connected to traditional bank accounts or cryptocurrencies.”

Also, in his latest rant, Roubini states:

“If a CBDC were to be issued, it would immediately displace cryptocurrencies, which are not scalable, cheap, secure, or actually decentralized.”

If that wasn't enough, he then goes on to claim that within the coming few months, CBDCs will be able to completely replace cryptocurrencies. This, in his view, is because crypto assets are “expensive” and not really secure. However, the funniest aspect of his tirade is that he says altcoins are “not really decentralized” (which then begs the question “What about CBDCs?”)

Lastly, rounding off his barely researched “educational piece”, Roubini states:

“Enthusiasts will argue that cryptocurrencies would remain attractive to those who wish to remain anonymous. But, like private bank deposits today, CBDC transactions could also be made anonymous, with access to account-holder information available, when necessary, only to law-enforcement authorities or regulators, as already happens with private banks.”

It is worth noting that Roubini believes that a CDBC system could be a boon for the global economic system as far as financial inclusion goes (especially since it could allow millions of people to gain access to near-free banking services). However, if history has taught us anything up until now, it is that Roubini’s predictions are usually well off the mark when it comes to cryptocurrencies.

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