Cryptocurrency critics speak up during the Milken Institute Global Conference

The Milken Institute Global Conference was yesterday, and Economist Nouriel Roubini made his opinion known when he spoke at a panel, according to Bloomberg. He was incredibly critical of the cryptocurrency market and had no filter when he said: “all this talk of decentralization is just bulls**t.” Another panelist who worked for the CIA on cryptography, Bill Barhydt, also made his criticisms known when he replied “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Roubini has been given the nickname “Dr. Doom” because he predicted the financial crisis the United States endured in 2008. He censured cryptocurrencies and argued that you cannot place value on digital coins. He also said the scale of cryptocurrency is not even close to a centrally intermediated system of payment.

Alex Mashinsky, another panelist at the conference, brought up an opposing viewpoint and said that crypto assets could potentially allow individuals to break ties with traditional financial institutions. Roubini replied by accusing him of making stuff up. Mashinsky didn’t let the comment go. He answered back by suggesting to Roubini that he should buy a single coin and let them know how it worked out, intensifying the discussion and causing emotions to run high.

The general counsel for the United States Treasury, Brent McIntosh, attempted to play peacekeeper and stepped in saying he might have to regulate the panel due to the intense emotions. Roubini has previously stated that the incoming regulations will be the downfall of Bitcoin and other digital coin currencies. He backed his statement by pointing out that more and more countries are making cryptocurrency exchanges illegal. China made exchanges illegal, and others are likely to follow he predicted, which will eventually lead to the complete downfall of cryptocurrency exchanges.

The pessimistic and grim forecast he predicted resulted in a Twitter poll to see how the cryptocurrency community felt about his grim outlook. With nearly 1,000 votes, 70 percent of respondents felt that Roubini’s predictions meshed with the nickname “Dr. Doom,” while 30 percent felt that his predictions were plausible and felt “Mr. Realist” was a more appropriate nickname.