The author of “The Black Swan” denounces Bitcoin

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Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan and probability researcher and former quantitative trader, previously praised bitcoin. Now he has criticized it as being essentially worthless, CNBC reported.

Taleb said in a recent article that bitcoin did not qualify as a currency without a government, an inflation hedge or a safe haven investment, explaining that few assets in financial history have been more fragile, according to CNBC.

He wrote that because bitcoin needs some interest to maintain it, bitcoin is worth exactly zero compared to gold and other precious metals, which require no maintenance and do not degrade with the time.

In other news, a man who used the dark web to steal $ 500,000 and buy cryptocurrency has been sentenced to three years in prison, Business Insider reported.

Aaron Laws, 33, of Atlanta, Ga., Is called a prolific identity thief in the report, having stolen personal information from credit cards. He used digital wallets and burner phones, and he had recruited accomplices and used bitcoin to evade the law and achieve his goals, according to the report.

With the stolen money, Laws bought luxury goods that could be sold for cash or bitcoin, according to the report. He bought a diamond encrusted Bitcoin pendant and a Rolex that cost over $ 34,000.

Meanwhile, Fidelity Digital Assets plans to bolster its workforce by 70% as increased demand for cryptocurrency keeps the business going, Bitcoin.com reported. The company has also seen an increase in demand for Ethereum.

The new hires will focus on creating new products to go into more areas of crypto assets beyond bitcoin, President Tom Jessop said, according to the report.

Jessop also said in the report that the company trades digital currencies more often, and he said crypto trading differs from traditional markets in that it is a 24/7 environment. He added that there is still a strong demand for crypto, including from companies and pension agencies that have never touched it before.

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