On February 12, well-known Lebanese-American essayist and risk analyst, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, declared that the main bitcoin digital currency is a failure, at least for now. Cryptocurrency fans were upset by Taleb’s recent statements, after it appears that the renowned author turned 180 after supporting the crypto asset for years.
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 the current monetary system, the current financial sector and the most recent financial crises. The philosopher is best known for his books “The Black Swan” (2010) and “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder” (2012).
After Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin network, Taleb was initially very optimistic about this emerging technology and over the years has written positive things about the digital asset.
Two years ago, in a post published on Taleb’s Opacity blog entitled “It may fail, but now we know how to do it”, the novelist explained that “Bitcoin is an excellent idea”. Taleb said that his essay was initially written as a preface to the book written by Saifedean Ammous, but he also emphasized that he did not subscribe to Saifedean Ammous’s “eccentric and conspiratorial ideas”. When discussing bitcoin (BTC), Taleb’s opinion at the time was that cryptocurrency was a powerful animal.
“It meets the needs of the complex system, not because it is a cryptocurrency,” wrote Taleb. “But precisely because it has no owner, no authority that can decide on its destiny. It is owned by the crowd, its users. And now it has a history of several years, enough to be an animal in its own right. “
In 2021, specifically on February 12, Nassim Nicholas Taleb decided to tell the public that he was selling part of his bitcoin. In addition, Taleb criticized several people within the cryptographic community at the end of his tweet.
“I got rid of my BTC”, the renowned author tweeted to his more than 705,000 Twitter followers. “Why? A coin should never be more volatile than what you buy [and] sell with him. You cannot price goods at BTC, ”said the former options trader.
Taleb added:
In that respect, it is a failure (at least for now). It was assumed by Covid denying sociopaths with the sophistication of amoebas.
Taleb did not finish his blunt criticism and decided to add something to his first statement. “The other BTC Protozoa problem [doesn’t] get: the appeal of a cryptocurrency depends on some opacity, its ability to facilitate tax fraud and money laundering, ”Taleb tweeted. “You can anonymize a gold coin by melting it again. You can remake a spoon. BTC is more manageable than money. BTC volatility is not decreasing over time / at [a] higher price, exactly what you don’t need ”, the famous author emphasized even more.
Paul Sztorc: ‘Saner Bitcoiners have become quieter recently’
Of course, supporters of cryptocurrency and bitcoin were not very satisfied with Taleb’s statements. The popular bitcoiner Pierre Rochard said Say that “bitcoin is falling”, while proponent of digital asset Chris Ellis said “[Bitcoin is] synchronizing with the global economy. “
“It’s like watching the progress bar of an old tape backup without the time to complete,” Chris Ellis continuous.
Others responded differently and discussed the subject from an alternative perspective. Software developer Paul Sztorc talked about how the healthiest people in BTC haven’t been talking so loud in recent times.
“Unfortunately, it is true that the majority of Bitcoiners who [Nassim Nicholas Taleb] with whom he spoke were embarrassments (namely Saifedean, whose mission is to repel all reasonable and intelligent people). Saner BTCers have become quieter recently, ”Sztorc said on twitter.
Sztorc continued:
It’s just like [Chris] DeRose / Junseth predicted a long time ago. ‘Enforcer’ types, who are very good at putting pressure on the gullible to increase their commitment, but disgusting to outsiders or independent thinkers. I think those are the people [Nassim Nicholas Taleb] is referring to.
Nassim Taleb is not convinced by refutations, says “Bitcoin misfits share the single-cell brain”
After Taleb’s initial tweet on February 12, the author tweeted some more on the 14th and criticized Kraken FX’s Dan Held. Blockchain researcher Willy Woo responded to Taleb’s criticism and said that “volatility is a false clue”.
“The most likely way is for BTC to become a reserve asset that supports the currency. Thinking of it as a unit of account is a hangover from the Agrarian Era, when we had silver shells and clods. We are in the digital age now, we have live indexes and baskets, ”added Woo. Despite all the defense and response to Taleb’s new way of thinking, the author does not appear to be favoring active cryptography as he did in the past.
Even last April, when word spread that the Bank of Lebanon was applying strict local currency remittance rules, Taleb tweeted: “Use cryptocurrencies!”
However, today is a different story, and on Sunday morning (EST), Taleb apparently responded to numerous responses to “reserve assets” on Twitter.
“Bitcoin misfits share the single-cell brain [and] defects in logical wiring: ‘BTC is a good idea, so IT WILL BE * THE * reserve currency’ (ie no other idea [and] no other reservation). Reserve ≄Volatile. [Plus] It is not to be volatile AT HIGHER PRICES. [Plus] I never found uses, ”Taleb insisted.
What do you think of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s scathing criticism of bitcoin and bitcoin proponents in general? Let us know what you think about this in the comments section below.
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