Gita Gopinath is not alone in avoiding the crypto party: Here are top 5 economists who said no to crypto

In an exclusive interview with Business Today, Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that she has steered clear of cryptocurrencies and has not invested a single dollar in them.  Gopinath told BT Executive Director Rahul Kanwal, “I have stayed away (from crypto) completely. But that is just my level of risk aversion.”

She is not the only economist who has had a wary approach to cryptocurrencies. Several other top economists and central bankers have been wary of these virtual digital assets because of their volatility and speculative nature.

Here is a list of five other economists who have steered clear of cryptocurrencies.

1. Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Eugene Stiglitz is a Columbia University full professor of economics and public policy. He won the John Bates Clark Medal and the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001. Stiglitz has criticised cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, several times. He had predicted that Bitcoin would collapse if governments began to address money laundering and other fraudulent activities carried out by using the cryptocurrency. 

2. Nouriel Roubini 

Nouriel Roubini is an economist of Iranian-American origin. He is the chairman of Roubini Macro Associates LLC, an economic consulting firm, and a lecturer at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Roubini is known as Dr Doom by many people for his predictions of financial busts. He has called Bitcoin as the ‘mother of all scams’ and has also predicted several times that ‘Bitcoin will never be digital gold.’

3. Ken Rogoff

Ken Rogoff served as an economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Rogoff was previously Princeton University's Charles and Marie Robertson Professor of International Affairs.

Rogoff has often said that he does not believe that Bitcoin has the capacity for long-term success. He has also often criticised Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies because of their involvement in money laundering and tax evasion.

4. Christine Lagarde

Christine Lagarde is a French economist and President of European Central Bank. She has also frequently expressed her distaste for cryptocurrencies.

In a recent interview, Lagarde said cryptocurrencies are worth ‘nothing’. She said, “My very humble judgment is that it (cryptocurrency) is worth nothing." 

5. Paul Krugman

Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist and public intellectual. He won the 2008 Nobel Prize for Economics.

Krugman has often highlighted that the crypto markets have disturbing parallels with the 2008 subprime crash. Moreover, he has also argued that digital tokens like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies serve no economic purpose.

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