As bitcoin mania sweeps across the globe, two senior Deutsche Bank economists highlighted the threats and opportunities of a potential challenger to traditional currencies.

'Bitcoin isn't perfect, but don't expect it to go away anytime soon,' said Peter Hooper, Chief Economist, when members of the press asked about the cryptocurrency during a 2018 Market Outlook Breakfast in New York.

Hooper believes that while there is a future in bitcoin, it can be better designed and regulation will become increasingly necessary the bigger it becomes. He added that that there is considerable potential, given its ability to cross borders, but it has 'a long way to go to compete meaningfully with existing money supplies.' Read the Bloomberg article here.

Torsten Slok, Chief International Economist, also weighed in on bitcoin, citing the possibility of it crashing as one of the Top 30 Market Risks for 2018. In a CNBC interview, Slok said bitcoin will become more systemic if the current trend continues. He predicts it will remain volatile through 2018, with questions about regulation, transparency and disclosure remaining unanswered. Slok told Bloomberg that as an asset class it's difficult to figure out fundamentals because there is no value or return. 'For investors the challenge is to figure out if it's a payment system or an asset class,' said Slok.

Deutsche Bank AG published this content on 13 December 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 13 December 2017 14:38:07 UTC.

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