WORLD BANK COULD BE HEADED BY BITCOIN OPTIMIST

The short-list of candidates for the chairmanship of the World Bank, compiled by US President Donald Trump, lists the chief economic adviser of Allianz Bank, Mohamed El-Erian. He spoke positively about the role of cryptocurrency, and also successfully predicted the correction of the market in the midst of the “bull rally” of 2017-2018.

The 60-year-old economist is known for his positive Outlook on cryptocurrencies, unlike Allianz CEO Andreas Utermann. While the latter urged regulators not to pass laws on the circulation of digital money, El-Erian, on the contrary, called cryptocurrencies “subversive” technology, which will play a crucial role in the future of P2P-transactions.

Meanwhile, El-Erian is considered the “bear” of the cryptocurrency market. For example, at the end of the third quarter of 2017, he warned that bitcoin is highly overrated. According to him, the fair price of BTC at that time was about $2 thousand — half of the market price of $4 thousand. Later, El-Erian raised his estimate to $5 thousand and said that the cryptocurrency market needs a “healthy correction”, which happened over the past year.

And yet, in November 2018, he expressed the opinion that cryptocurrencies will be distributed and will become part of a wider economic system.