Although the traditional stock market is doing pretty well, the rising uncertainty around Brexit and U.S.-China trade war has shifted investors’ focus towards Bitcoin. On Wednesday, November 20, Bloomberg’s Alastair Marsh interviewed top panelists from the crypto and blockchain space.
The interview took place at the Future of Digital Assets briefing in London where the panelists discussed Bitcoin in the wake of the geopolitical uncertainty. Charles McGarraugh, head of markets for blockchain kicked-off the conversation. He said that he very much believes that Bitcoin becomes an attractive bet during uncertain global events or recessions.
John Pfeffer, the founder of Pfeffer Capital, added to the tune saying that Bitcoin’s digital gold status is imminent. He also said that it will happen “sooner or later”.
“We think of [BTC] in our portfolio as it goes into our venture portfolio. […] It is a venture that aspires to become digital gold, and is showing great promise of doing that. Because it hasn’t done that yet […] there is a lot of upside, but also downside,” added Pfeffer.
Another panelist Travis Kling, founder and CIO of Ikigai Asset Management agrees that Bitcoin is a risky asset. But putting it straightforward, he adds that Bitcoin has got some specific investment characteristics which make it “increasingly more attractive the more irresponsible monetary and fiscal policy is from central banks and governments globally”. Travis further stated:
“Investors in BTC today aren’t investing in Bitcoin as a store of value today, we’re speculating that it may become a store of value because it has the characteristics to be a good store of value.”
Chances of Recession
Although the traditional markets are skyrocketing at this point, a large number of experts fear the chances of an impending recession next year. Statistics show that the U.S. national debt has swollen up to its all-time high at $23 trillion. United States Federal Reserve Jerome Powell recently said that national debt is growing even faster than its GDP.
On the other hand, Brexit concerns are constantly putting up pressure on European economies. With the long going discussions and no certain outcome, companies are finding it difficult to follow one line of action.
The U.S.- China trade war has also created massive skepticism in the market. No one is sure of where things will turn out from here. To reduce its dependency on the U.S. Dollar for global trade, China is giving an aggressive push to its central bank digital currency project. Before any other global competition threatens its economic position, China plans to take an early lead in the digital currency.
Looking at China’s bold steps, even the U.S. Federal Reserve is weighing out options for their Digital Dollar.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
