'Black Swan' Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb Says Bitcoin 'Isn't Even Good' For Money Laundering

“Black Swan” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Thursday declared that Bitcoin (CRYPTO:  BTC)  is not even a suitable tool for money laundering. 

What Happened:  In an interview at Bloomberg Invest New York 2023, Taleb called out Bitcoin as similar to a cult with a financial product.

Taleb’s opinion is that the idea of Bitcoin being used for transactions and as a financial product is nothing but a fad. He said Bitcoin isn’t even suitable for its infamous reputation as a tool for illicit financial transactions.

Taleb stated, “My principal reason – guess what? BTC isn’t even good for money laundering. It is too traceable when you see gold you can re-melt bars and do something [but] BTC is a book entry somewhere and anyone with basic knowledge of statistics can triangularize.” 

In his view, “crypto is probably just a fad” and the “transaction narrative is no longer holding.”

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Why It Matters: He argues that crypto transformed into a cult and is a financial product that doesn’t belong in that category.

In his words, “Usually, you do cult with Yoga, music, here cult is a financial product. These things don’t go together because finance has some gravity rules that eventually end up hurting them.”

Taleb is a renowned author, mathematician, and scientific adviser. He is best known for his book, “The Black Swan,” which focuses on the impact of high-impact, rare events in finance. Taleb has always been a critic of Bitcoin.

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $26,504.34, up 0.34% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

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