Venture Capitalist Doesn’t See Bitcoin Escaping Financial Crises Unscathed

Over the past few months, we’ve seen some unpredictable patterns in the Bitcoin trading trajectory. With the traditional stock market itself going on a bit of a tailspin thanks to other macroeconomic forces, many have looked to Bitcoin to serve as a haven, while others believe that the asset would never truly have the storage value that other asset classes (say, gold) have.

One stock trading expert has weighed in on his perception of Bitcoin’s future, claiming that the world’s most valuable digital asset might not survive a severe financial crisis if it happens.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, venture capitalist and partner at Blockchain Capital Spencer Bogart stated that in the face of several financial crises that could be taking place, Bitcoin might also struggle from a price perspective.

As regards financial crises, it seems as though we couldn’t get enough of them at this point. The United States recently announced that it would be placing tariffs on up to $300 billion worth of goods coming in from China, in a move that would most likely set fire to any progress that has been made between both countries concerning a deal to end their current trade war.

In the wake of the tariff announcement, markets around the world took a hit. While institutions were reeling from that blow, last week saw the U.S. bond yield curve turn negative, essentially meaning that it would be more expensive to borrow money from the U.S. government in the short term than in the long term.

The negative yield curve is an eerily accurate depiction of a looming recession, and markets have continued to run amok since it was discovered. Elsewhere, Germany saw a drop in its gross domestic product index for Q2 2019, and analysts are predicting a further drop in Q3, thus sending the country on a highway towards a technical recession.

With all of this, investors have been looking for a stable class of assets to store their holdings. Many have touted Bitcoin and other crypto-assets as the key, and Bogart also believes that this could be a major driver of the asset’s price run.

In part, he said, “I mean as it grows up the adoption curve we see bitcoin kind of evolving as it goes. So I think right now it is kind of in this intermediate state right now where you have to think about what the risks are and how severe they are. So I think that when you have looming risks of monetary devaluation, things like this, Bitcoin certainly looks very attractive, and I think that was a large driver of the recent run-up in price.”

However, given the impact that all of these crises could have on markets at once, he expressed skepticism that the asset would be able to make it out unscathed. Bogart pointed out that Bitcoin could easily withstand problems like bank closures because it has strong utility value, but its evolution into the “safe haven” status will require some time.