Debating crypto critics: Nouriel Roubini’s testimony before the US Senate

Too Long; Didn't Read

Late last year, Nouriel Roubini spoke before a US Senate hearing on banking, and delivered a testimony that can only be described as a FUD MOAB — a comprehensive presentation of the major criticisms levelled at Bitcoin and crypto in general, and aptly titled <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Roubini%20Testimony%2010-11-18.pdf" target="_blank">“Crypto is the Mother of All Scams and (Now Busted) Bubbles”</a>. Since the testimony has been made public it has been lauded on one side as the death knell for the crypto-sphere and written off on the other side as the dinosaurs of old money trying to crush this new phenomenon. As always the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, and so it is regrettable that no real debate took place on the merits of Prof. Roubini’s comments. Ethereum founder <a href="https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1050908938777051138" target="_blank">Vitalik Buterin initially agreed to debate Roubini</a>, but no solid plans are forthcoming and the two have been trading <a href="https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1050103887170957312" target="_blank">heavy-handed barbs on Twitter</a>. With that in mind, it would be pertinent to discuss his most prominent talking points before such an event, to at least have a fair framework of the debate at hand. The testimony ranges from fair to unreasonable in its criticism, so this article will address just ten of his most prominent propositions on their merits.