Bitcoin ‘untouchable’ amid regulatory pressures, says analyst


Bitcoin (BTC) is “untouchable” despite ongoing regulatory pressures in the cryptocurrency sector and those without some cryptocurrency exposure are “seriously dumb,” according to Bloomberg senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.

During an April 3 stream with crypto broadcaster Scott MelkerMcGlone argued that unlike other cryptocurrencies like Ether (ETH), regulators could not kill Bitcoin because it is more decentralized.

“There is so much disdain for regulators that they reject the entire space, and that is the key to where Bitcoin excels,” McGlone said.

“You can't do anything to this, and you can't kill it and it's unprecedented; is untouchable."

"I could argue that Ethereum is a security when you hear about all these upgrades and people doing this and people doing that to make it better, I'm like, well that's a little scary, I can't do that to Bitcoin, it's because of that's good and impressive," added McGlone.

The cryptocurrency sector has recently faced a wave of crackdowns in the United States, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) press charges against crypto exchange Kraken for its staking services, then suing stablecoin issuer Paxos on Binance USD (BUSD). The regulator also proposed rule changes. Targeted at Crypto Firms operating as custodians.

McGlone said that it is still bullish on BTC but expects the price to drop again at the rate of other assets if a recession occurs.

In January, he warned that BTC might not see the predicted increase still, as there is challenging macroeconomic conditions and the pressure of interest rate rises.

According to McGlone on April 2 decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce daily oil production makes a recession more likely, as well as increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation.

"We had our morning call this morning and our economist Anna Wong said: Yes, your base case is that the recession will start in the third quarter," he said.

"OPEC is helping that. Fed tightening is helping that. So all assets have to go down. That also means Bitcoin. It's the fastest horse in the race. So overall, I'm relatively optimistic".

Related: Bitcoin Likely to Outperform All Crypto Assets Post-Banking Crisis, Analyst Explains

In McGlone's view, it is "seriously foolish" to risk not being exposed to cryptocurrency or to try to get in the way of it.

"The key that I see simplistically for Bitcoin is, if you're a money manager, why take the risk of not having some of this revolutionary asset, particularly because it's so controversial that you want to have at least some of it because you don't want to be left like an idiot about history," he said.

"Smart guys get it; we're not going to be a Blockbuster or Sears, and we're going to be a part of this technology."

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