7 "Experts" Who Were Wrong About Bitcoin

Bitcoin is undoubtedly one of the greatest financial success stories of our time. But it's also an asset that people have been wrong about, over and over again.

In fact, Bitcoin has been declared to be dead more than 400 times.

With Bitcoin having reached an often-thought-impossible milestone of $100,000 USD per coin this year, let's look at some of the experts who told us this would never happen.

1. "Cryptocurrencies Have No Value..."

Warren Buffett has been, perhaps, one of Bitcoin’s most vocal critics. Back in 2014, he called BTC a “mirage” and advised investors to stay away from it.

As the years go by, he hasn't seemed to change his point of view. Here are some of his most popular quotes about Bitcoin:

• In 2017, he called Bitcoin a “bubble”.
• In 2018, he described Bitcoin as “probably rat poison squared”.
• In 2019, he named Bitcoin a “delusion” and added that it “attracted charlatans”.
• In 2020, he said that cryptocurrency “had no value”.
• In 2024, he predicted a “bad ending” for Bitcoin.

That being said, there's a rumor that Buffet has indirect exposure to cryptocurrencies through his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway. Draw your own conclusions.

2. "Bitcoin Is Dead..."

The CEO of fintech startup TransferWise used to be one of Bitcoin's passionate critics a few years ago.

During his speech at a London tech conference in 2015, he said: "We’re very much a consumer-led company. The trouble with Bitcoin is nobody’s asking for it."

In 2016, he doubled down on his point of view. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, he said “Bitcoin, I think we can say, is dead. There is no traction, no one is using Bitcoin. The Bitcoin experiment, I think we can say, is over."

Today, over eight years later, I think there's a few million bag holders who would disagree.

3. "Crypto Will Collapse in 2023..."

Ben McKenzie is an American actor, author, and commentator with a lot to say about Bitcion.

In his book “Easy Money”, he calls crypto a financial bubble and highlights the prevalence of fraud in this industry. In addition, he considers El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as a case study of crypto failures.

According to The Guardian, he bet against the crypto market in 2023. In the process, he managed to lose $250,000 USD predicting that the market would collapse.

Imagine if he had just bought crypto instead.

4. "Bitcoin Is a Fraud That Will Blow Up..."

The Chief Executive of the largest bank in the US has been vocal against Bitcoin over the last few years.

In 2017, he said that "Bitcoin is a fraud that will ultimately blow up”. Moreover, he promised to fire anyone caught trading Bitcoin that year.

That's back when it was worth just $4,000 USD per coin.

However, in 2024, JP Morgan disclosed that its investments in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust total more than $700,000.

Double standards are everywhere.

5. "Bitcoins Are a Bubble..."

This is what the ex-chairman of FedReserve said in December 2013, right when Bitcoin reached its all-time high, surging from $128 to $1,152 USD per coin in a matter of two months.

I wonder how he feels looking at today's charts.

CoinMarketCap: Bitcoin’s previous all-time highs look tiny compared to today.

6. "BTC's Value is Less Than Zero..."

Nouriel Roubini, a.k.a. “Dr. Doom,” is a prominent economist recognized for his prediction of the 2008 global financial crisis.

But he's also become known for his heavy criticism of cryptocurrencies.

Here are some of his famous quotes:

“Literally 99% of crypto is a scam”, this is what he said in early 2018, a couple of months after FTX’s collapse.

“The fundamental value of Bitcoin (BTC) is not zero, it is negative”, - Yahoo Finance, 2020.

7. "Bitcoin Will Hit $500k By 2020..."

Finally, we can't forget one of the most famous examples of someone being wrong about Bitcoin.

This time, however, it's an example of someone being a little too bullish.

John McAfee, famous businessman and occasional star of some of the world's most insane headlines, was a true Bitcoin believer.

In 2017, when the bull run was just gaining momentum, he caused a stir by betting that Bitcoin would cost $500,000 USD in the next three years.

Suffice to say, McAfee was far off. Which goes to show that you shouldn't believe a prediction just because you want it to come true.

In fact, what all of the short-sighted predictions on this list show us is that anyone who tries to tell you the future probably isn't worth your time in the present.