Cryptocurrency is the mother of all scams – Economist

Cryptocurrency critic Nouriel Roubini, the economist who’s famous for foreseeing the 2008 financial crisis, is back in the headlines again, and this time it’s because he’s dissing digital money in front of the U.S. Senate.

In a scathing prepared testimony for a hearing on crypto and blockchain Thursday, Roubini read Bitcoin believers the riot act, calling virtual currencies “the mother of all scams and (now busted) bubbles.” He also fired shots at the technology behind digital tokens, which many believe is what holds the real promise.

“Blockchain is the most over-hyped technology ever,” wrote the New York University professor, who is also chairman at Roubini Macro Associates. “It is nothing better than a glorified spreadsheet or database.”

The verbal attacks in the 37-page roast were aplenty. Crypto traders frequently refer to the hundreds of tokens other than Bitcoin as “shitcoins.” This, Roubini said, “is a grave insult to manure.”

Bitcoin’s…