In recent months, doubts about cryptocurrencies have not stopped and information about them has promoted speculation of all kinds.
The Bitcoin value continues in free fall. After exceeding $19,000 at the end of December, the most popular digital currency lost value with a cumulative drop of more than 16% in the last 24 hours, and currently quoted at $8558 US.
But, because it loses value?
The main reason for its devaluation, according to experts, is still the regulatory measures and the prohibitions of operations with these cryptocurrencies.
For example, three banks in the United States and one in the United Kingdom forbade their customers to buy the cryptocurrency with credit cards for fear that the rate will continue to decline, debt cannot be assumed and customers will suffer financial losses.
The uncertainty and fear of losing money is another cause of Bitcoin's instability, a valid reason for customers to question the purchase of coins. In addition, recent studies established 44% of transactions made with bitcoins are directed to illegal activities.
Defects of cryptocurrencies
In the first place, the risk of adulteration and cloning of sophistication on the part of the developers has been pointed out, with the implementation of variations and new publications in the market, of which some clones have already been found.
For its part, the director of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustín Carstens, indicates that Bitcoins lack the support of a legal institution that proves its good name and, on the contrary, requires intermediaries for its operation.
He has also indicated that this alternative is propitious as a means of payment without a government intervention, presents an unfavourable environmental scenario and benefits the activities of the illegal or black market framework.
The experts talk
The well-known economist Nouriel Roubini, has defined Bitcoin as "the Mother of all Bubbles" and is favoured by what is known as "charlatans and swindlers". He also said this week that in the future there would be a "sharp drop in Bitcoin that would leave its value at zero".
For his part, the economist and winner of the Nobel Prize, Robert Shiller, expressed a few days ago that if Bitcoin were a really smart business, it would not be a lasting part of the financial sector. He also said: "I tend to think of Bitcoin as an experiment, but it is not a permanent feature of our lives".