Bloomberg has released the latest edition in its Bloomberg Briefs series, in the form of a special report dealing solely with Bitcoin and its future.
The series, which Bloomberg claims circulates to over 300 thousand subscribers, features opinion from industry figures along with limited editorial content and informational data.
‘Bitcoin: What is the Future?’ is no different, drawing on the expertise from a group of well-known names in cryptocurrency on issues ranging from regulation to price and value. Bitcoin’s status as an investment and currency are debated separately, with Bloomberg’s Noah Smith offering his take on Bitcoin’s mainstream entry hurdles, writing:
“The sooner people give up the hope that bitcoin will skyrocket in price, the sooner they will be willing to spend bitcoins in everyday life, the way they now spend dollars.”
He also agreed with the view of Washington Post journalist Matt O’Brien who labeled Bitcoin “a Ponzi scheme for redistributing wealth from one libertarian to another.”
“At least, that’s all it is right now,” O’Brien had added, which Smith corroborated, explaining, “The reason for bitcoin’s wild price volatility is that many people … fail to understand the difference between money and risky long-term assets.”
Smith’s editorial failed to win over commentators, who criticized his “rhetoric” and called for a “more sophisticated analysis.” The report is nonetheless conspicuous in its relative lack of editorial content, relying instead on more direct input and interviews from industry figures. Also notable is the absence of banking sector opinion, lending the report a different angle to the periodicals published by CoinDesk which deal with similar themes.
Instead, Bloomberg concentrates on highlighting activities of Bitcoin traders themselves, including Wedbush Securities’ Gil Luria, a regular pundit on Bitcoin investment, as well as educators such as Jerry Brito of Coin Center.
“The Internet has removed middlemen and bottlenecks all over the place, but not yet for money,” Luria commented when asked about Bitcoin’s future. “I think that’s going to change.”
Bloomberg has traditionally offered an open platform to Bitcoin discussion, with notable events including a November 2014 conference, during which Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commissioner Mark Wetjen stated he considered the organization to have “authority over Bitcoin price manipulation.”
In April 2014, Bloomberg added Bitcoin to its market index.
