Robert Schiller: Satoshi Nakamoto's secret is behind the viral popularity of bitcoin

Descriptive information plays a big role in the popularity of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. This statement was madeNobel Laureate in Economics Robert Schiller in an interview with Yale University's official portal.

According to Schiller, it was the mysterious background to the creation of bitcoin that contributed to the rise in its price to historical heights of $ 20,000 in 2017.

«Bitcoin was a dream in the eyes of a certain scientistfrom the field of computer science. We don't even know this person's identity. Supposedly his name was Satoshi Nakamoto, but no confirmation was ever found. We don't even know if it exists. There is an element of mystery in this plot, and this is important»Schiller explained.

In his opinion, partly the success of the first cryptocurrency is also associated with the ideas of anarchism and the unreliability of the state, which its founder spread.

«Based on this, a plot developed thatyoung people created a financial institution beyond the reach of the state. This is a powerful story. People find it as exciting as any viral video»— noted the economist, adding, however, that this does not confirm the correctness of the key concepts of Bitcoin.

Robert Schiller analyzed these and other informational and ideological attitudes in more detail in the new book “Narrative economics: How virus stories cause major economic events”.

Let us remind you that Schiller is one of the activecritics of cryptocurrencies. He previously said that digital assets could become another failure in the transformation of money, and also called Bitcoin a “psychological experiment.”

However, if we take the economic aspect out of the equation, Bitcoin, according to him, is still an «extraordinary social phenomenon».