Cryptocurrencies

Summers Says Crypto Has Chance of Becoming ‘Digital Gold’

  • Summers doubts crypto’s role in economy, as medium of exchange
  • Summers says Fed should be more aware of inflationary risk
Cryptocurrency Is Likely Here to Stay as a Kind of Digital Gold: Summers
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said cryptocurrencies could stay a feature of global markets as something akin to “digital gold,” even if their importance in economies will remain limited.

Speaking at the end of a week in which Bitcoin whipsawed, Summers told Bloomberg Television’s “Wall Street Week” with David Westin that cryptocurrencies offered an alternative to gold for those seeking an asset “separate and apart from the day-to-day workings of governments.”

“Gold has been a primary asset of that kind for a long time,” said Summers, a paid contributor to Bloomberg. “Crypto has a chance of becoming an agreed form that people who are looking for safety hold wealth in. My guess is that crypto is here to stay, and probably here to stay as a kind of digital gold.”