Bitcoin Is for Suckers, Says Professor Steve Hanke

Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, once again took aim at Bitcoiners in his Oct. 5 tweet, pointing to a recent study that is supposed to expose their financial illiteracy.

Hanke used the old adage  about a sucker being born every minute that is widely attributed to American showman and businessman P.T. Barnum.

Bitcoiners and gamblers

According to a Bank of Canada survey that was published in August, investors with low financial literacy are twice as likely to put their money into Bitcoin (8 percent and 4 percent, respectively). 

Those with substantial financial skills tend to be more aware of Bitcoin but they choose to steer clear of the flagship cryptocurrency.    

This plays into the hands of Bitcoin critics who believe that crypto is tantamount to gambling.

Numerous studies conducted over the past decade have found that those who spend money on casinos, lotteries and sport betting have lower financial literacy.

In an article published by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), financial blogger J.P. Koning writes that viewing Bitcoin as a rebellion against the corrupt financial system will encourage even more gambling:   

“If gamblers are told that they’re not really betting, but helping to overthrow the banking oligarchy or replacing corrupt fiat money, then they’ll probably gamble even more.”

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Cryptocurrency illiteracy 

Barnum rose to prominence by engineering multiple infamous hoaxes such as the "Feejee" mermaid. 

His saying that illustrates how there are always people who are willing to be deceived fits the Hanke’s anti-Bitcoin narrative who routinely compares the orange coin to the Dutch tulip bubble and says that it should be avoided like the plague.

However, Hanke — who dabbled into a stablecoin project back in 2018 — routinely displays his own cryptocurrency illiteracy. In August, he embarrassingly claimed that Bitcoin should be tied to gold, exposing his lack of basic understanding of how the cryptocurrency actually works.