Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) is a marketing strategy used to fight against products by spreading rumours. One common crypto FUD is that Bitcoin and Altcoins are valueless. Are they?
Claim
In 2021, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon gave his speech at a conference for the Institute of International Finance, where he mentioned Bitcoin. His speech about the coin was not very judgemental, but he said something that needed attention. He claimed that cryptos are worthless.
“I think that Bitcoin is worthless,” Dimon said during a conference for the Institute of International Finance, CNBC reported. “But I don’t want to be a spokesperson, and I don’t care. It makes no difference to me.”
That is a FUD. Bitcoin is not worthless, and so are the other cryptocurrencies that are its alternatives. Damon is not the only significant person who has claimed that Bitcoin and altcoins are worthless. Others, like Warren Buffet have also dismissed the coin as valueless.
Rating
False
Facts Check
Cryptocurrencies derive their value from their economic models and the demand from the markets. Some have models that create the coin’s utility within a specific platform, making it to remain in use for a long time. Others utilize capped supply and burn mechanisms to ensure that the coin’s supply decreases with time, thus maintaining or increasing the demand.
For instance, Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins. These coins will never increase beyond that, meaning that inflations will never affect them. Also, the cycle at which the new coins will be released is predetermined.
Ethereum, on the other hand, has been ramping up its burning rate with over $6B in tokens being burnt since the London Hard Fork. However, this coin does not have a maximum supply, but its burning mechanism ensures that the available supply is what’s required for the coin to maintain its demand and price.
Away from capped supply and burning, the crypto supply has proven itself a store of value. It has increased its total market capitalization since it was first launched. For instance, the crypto market was worth $106B on June 13, 2017. At the moment, it is worth around $2.2T. That shows that the market has maintained and increased its value significantly over the years.
Bitcoin also has an ATL of $1, reached in April 2011. Now it trades at over $30K, clearly showing that the coin has managed to gain value over time. Given that only under 500M people engage in cryptocurrencies, and they are going mainstream (the coins), it is correct to say that their value will only rise.
The Truth About the Claim
Cryptocurrencies have different ways to create and maintain their value. Some ways include a utility within platforms and the world, burning mechanisms, capped supplies and optimized economic models. These methods ensure that the coins get value as time passes by.
The crypto market has also grown parabolically, proving that it has value. Its market capitalization has grown wildly over the years alongside its adoption rate. Many have made fortunes from different types of coins through holding and other trading alternatives. Almost everyone who bought cryptos four or more years ago and held them to date is in deep profits.
The market has also birthed new assets like the metaverse, NFTs and Yats. These assets use similar technology to cryptocurrencies. Though not all projects in the crypto space have survived the test of time, the ones crafted professionally have survived to date.
That shows that the market can maintain its value, and it is up to the investor to research different projects before locking their funds. That way, they will be sure to get some profits from their investments in the long term.
Looking at all the facts against the claim that crypto-assets and the crypto market have no value, anyone can easily derive that it’s a rumour that has poor backing. The fact that the assets in the crypto market are virtual doesnt mean that they do not exist or have value. Most fiat is riskier than cryptos due to the same issue of backing. Therefore claiming that cryptos do not have value is a lie.
Source: https://crypto.news/major-crypto-fuds-bitcoin-and-other-cryptocurrencies-are-valueless/