On February 12, well-known Lebanese-American essayist and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb stated that the leading Bitcoin in digital currency was a failure, at least for the time being. Cryptocurrency fans were upset by Taleb’s recent testimony after it appeared the renowned writer hit 180 after years of supporting the crypto asset.
Nassim Taleb is not impressed with Bitcoin these days
Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a very popular author, mathematical statistician, and scholar. Over the years, Taleb has been very critical of today’s monetary system, the current financial industry and the recent financial crises. The philosopher is best known for his books “The Black Swan” (2010) and “Antifragile: Things That Are Made by Disorder” (2012).
After Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin network, Taleb was initially very optimistic about this emerging technology and wrote positive things about the digital asset over the years.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s recent criticism of Bitcoin seems to have moved the BTC community, as not so long ago Taleb liked Bitcoin and wrote positively about the digital asset. “[Bitcoin’s] The very existence of an insurance policy is reminding governments that the last object the facility could control, currency, is no longer their monopoly. This gives us, the crowd, an insurance policy against an Orwellian future, ”Taleb wrote in 2018. Two years ago in a post on Taleb’s Opacity blog entitled“ It can fail but we now know how to do it ” the writer stated that “Bitcoin is an excellent idea.” Taleb said his essay was originally written as a foreword to the book written by Saifedean Ammous, but also stressed that he did not endorse Saifedean Ammous’ “capricious and conspiratorial ideas”. When discussing Bitcoin (BTC) at the time, Taleb was of the opinion that the cryptocurrency was a powerful animal.
“It meets the requirements of the complex system, not because it is a cryptocurrency,” wrote Taleb. “But precisely because it has no owner, no authority that can decide its fate. It belongs to the crowd, its users. And it now has a track record of several years of success, enough to be an animal in its own right. “
In 2021, specifically on February 12, Nassim Nicholas Taleb decided to announce to the public that he was selling some of his Bitcoin. Additionally, Taleb criticized a number of people within the crypto community towards the end of his tweet.
“I got rid of my BTC,” the renowned author tweeted to his over 705,000 Twitter followers. “Why? No currency should ever be more volatile than what you buy [and] sell with it. You can’t set prices for goods in BTC, ”said the former options trader.
Taleb added:
In that regard, it’s a mistake (at least for now). It was taken over by Covid, who denied sociopaths with the sophistication of amoebas.
Taleb was not finished with his scathing criticism and decided to add to his first statement. “The other problem, BTC Protozoa [doesn’t] get: The attractiveness of a cryptocurrency depends on a certain degree of opacity, its ability to facilitate tax fraud and money laundering, ”Taleb tweeted. “You can anonymize a gold coin by melting it again. You can revise a spoon. BTC is easier to use than cash. BTC volatility does not decrease over time [a] higher price, exactly what you don’t need, ”the famous author continued.
Paul Sztorc: “Saner Bitcoiners have become quieter lately”
Of course, proponents of cryptocurrency and bitcoin weren’t too happy with Taleb’s statements. Popular bitcoiner Pierre Rochard told Taleb that “Bitcoin is collapsing,” while digital asset advocate Chris Ellis said: “[Bitcoin is] Synchronization with the world economy. “
“It’s like viewing the progress bar on an old tape backup without the Time to Complete feature,” continued Chris Ellis.
Many bitcoiners argued with Taleb that bitcoin’s volatility actually decreases over time, as data shows that this is true.
Others reacted differently and discussed the issue from an alternative perspective. Software developer Paul Sztorc talked about how gentler BTC people haven’t been as loud lately.
“Unfortunately, it is true that most bitcoiners do that [Nassim Nicholas Taleb] there was talk of embarrassment (namely Saifedean, who makes it his business to fend off all intelligent sensible people). Saner BTCers have become quieter lately, ”Sztorc said on Twitter.
Sztorc continued:
It is exactly like that [Chris] DeRose / Junseth predicted it a long time ago. “Enforcer” types who are very good at pressuring the gullible to increase their engagement, but disliked outsiders or independent thinkers. I think these are the people [Nassim Nicholas Taleb] refers to.
Nassim Taleb Unconvinced of Refutations, Says Bitcoin Outsiders Share Monocellular Brain
After Taleb’s first tweet on February 12, the author tweeted something on February 14 and criticized Kraken FX’s Dan Held. Blockchain researcher Willy Woo responded to Taleb’s criticism, saying that “volatility is a red herring”.
“The most likely path is for BTC to become a reserve asset that supports the currency. Seeing it as a unit of account is a hangover from the agricultural days when we had clams and lumps of silver. We are now in a digital age, we have live indices and baskets, ”added Woo. Despite all the defense and reaction to Taleb’s new way of thinking, the author no longer seems to favor the crypto asset as much as he did in the past.
Even last April, when news went viral that the Bank of Lebanon had strict rules for transferring local currencies, Taleb tweeted, “Use cryptocurrencies!”
Today is a different story, however, and on Sunday morning (EST) Taleb apparently reacted to numerous Twitter replies about “Reserve Asset”.
“Bitcoin outsiders share the monocellular brain [and] logical wiring mistake: ‘BTC is a good idea, so it will be * the * reserve currency’ (i.e. no other ideas [and] no other reserve). Reserve ≄Volatile. [Plus] It shouldn’t be volatile at higher prices. [Plus] Never found a use, ”Taleb insisted.
What do you think of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s recent scathing criticism of Bitcoin and Bitcoin advocates in general? Let us know what you think on this matter in the comments section below.
Tags in this story
Antifragil, Bitcoin, Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin volatility, BTC volatility, Chris DeRose, Chris Ellis, review, crypto volatility, cryptocurrencies, Dan Held, Junseth, monocellular, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, NNT, Paul Sztorc, Pierre Rochard, Saifedean Ammous, The Black Swan, Willy Woo
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