Bitcoin is a bubble with ‘no inherent value and is terribly overpriced,’ top economist Steve Hanke says – Yahoo Finance

BitcoinYuichiro Chino/Getty Images

Top economist Steve Hanke reiterated that the world's most popular cryptocurrency is essentially worthless.

He was reacting to bitcoin falling to a two-month low last week after starting 2023 on a tear.

"Bitcoin is a bubble. It has no inherent value and is terribly overpriced," he tweeted.

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, is way too expensive and essentially worthless, according to Steve Hanke.

The professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, was reacting to news of the original virtual currency falling to a two-month low last week after starting 2023 on a tear. Bitcoin has retreated almost 12% from a 10-month high reached last month.

"Bitcoin is a bubble. It has no inherent value and is terribly overpriced," Hanke, a former economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan, said in a tweet on Sunday. It's not the first time the economist has slammed the cryptocurrency - in March, he said it is a highly speculative asset, adding that "buying bitcoin is a fool's game."

A bubble exists when investors perceive the current price of an asset to be much more than what it should be, based on its long-term, underlying qualities. It's typically marked by a rapid escalation of an asset's price to such highs that it becomes unsustainable, causing it to collapse in value.

Bitcoin has slumped to around $27,380 from a peak of more than $31,000 reached in mid-April. It rallied 88% through the first 3 1/2 months of the year amid optimism that an end was in sight to the Federal Reserve's interest-rate increases.

The token's weak performance in recent weeks came as senior cryptocurrency execs warned about regulatory stasis in the US. The Securities and Exchange Commission and other watchdogs have cracked down on major crypto exchanges including Binance and Kraken.

The collapse of crypto-friendly lenders Signature and Silvergate Capital amid the still-unresolved banking turmoil has also undermined investor sentiment in the digital-asset sector.

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Bitcoin is a bubble with 'no inherent value and is terribly overpriced,' top economist Steve Hanke says - Yahoo Finance