An adviser to the central bank of China has said Bitcoin can be an asset but will never be a currency.
Virtual currencies like bitcoin are assets but bitcoin in itself does not have the fundamental attributes needed to be a currency that could meet modern economic development needs.
According to a report from news agency «Reuters,» Sheng Songcheng, an adviser to the People's Bank of China, made the comments in an interview with financial magazine Yicai.
Under Chinese Scrutiny
«Bitcoin does not have the fundamental attributes needed to be a currency as it is a string of code generated by complex algorithms... But I do not deny that virtual currencies have technical value and are a type of asset,» said Sheng.
His comments come after the Chinese central bank increased scrutiny of the country's bitcoin exchanges earlier this year, a move that prompted the companies to stop margin lending, introduced trading fees and issue rules to rein in users.
Cryptocurrency Mania
Many governments around the world are still mulling over how to regulate and classify bitcoin, whose value surged in June to hit a record just shy of $3,000.
Speaking to Bloomberg, experienced stock picker Ronnie Moas believes bitcoin’s value is going to double in the next year, and that one single coin could be worth $25,000 to $50,000 in the next decade.
«There are only 21,000,000 bitcoins in circulation and the world will fight over those 21 million coins as confidence in currency and other investments deteriorates. I have little doubt that 1 percent of the money in cash, bonds, stocks and gold will end up in cryptocurrencies,» Moas added.
