IT’S a matter of when, not if, the Bitcoin bubble will pop, according to Allianz Global Investors.The cryptocurrency is worthless, even if blockchain technology could bring significant benefits to investors, said the investment arm of Europe’s biggest insurer, which manages almost 500 billion euro.“In our view, its intrinsic value must be zero,” Stefan Hofrichter, the company’s head of global economics and strategy, wrote in a recent web post. Bitcoin mania is a textbook-like bubble, “one that is probably just about to burst.”Hofrichter joins a chorus of commentators casting doubt on the underlying value of the digital currency. University of Pittsburgh researchers concluded it’s “an asset which has no value by traditional measures” and economist Nouriel Roubini called it the “biggest bubble in human history.”.Bitcoin traded 0.7 percent higher at $9,126 as of 2:45 p.m. Tokyo time. It pared an advance of about 2 percent after Google announced it would ban online advertisements promoting cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings starting in June. “As a result, we believe that the risks to financial stability stemming from bitcoin are negligible -- at least as of today.” - Bloomberg

Source: The Star March 14, 2018 07:30 UTC