Central Banks Are Driving People to Bitcoin – Morgan Stanley Exec

Central banks may be inadvertently driving a generation of investors to bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptoassets, said a Morgan Stanley executive.

In an interview with CNN, Morgan Stanley’s Head of Emerging Markets and Global Macro Ruchir Sharma, opined that central banks’ actions were pushing individual investors worldwide to seek out alternative assets like bitcoin as interest rates remain anemic.

Central banks all over the world have begun treasury bond-buying programs aimed at restarting sluggish economies that have been slowed down by coronavirus lockdown measures, effectively printing millions of dollars in fiat in key economies.

Sharma stated,

“I think some of the older [investors] are still buying gold, and some of the younger ones, the millennials are buying bitcoin and [cryptoassets]. But generally, I think that what that’s telling you is that there is this lingering feeling out there that, given what central banks are doing in terms of printing so much money, there is a search for alternative assets.”

The Morgan Stanley executive added that skyrocketing stock prices and an increasing sense of detachment from the general state of the economy could lead investors to re-invest their funds in precious metals and cryptoassets.

Sharma’s remarks echo recent comments made by Nigel Green, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the international financial consultancy deVere.

The deVere boss told Bloomberg that “the fundamentals that make bitcoin an attractive investment are gaining strength” despite a recent price dip that saw BTC briefly fall below the USD 10,000 mark.

Green stated,

“Crypto cynics and finance traditionalists will use the current – and temporary – fall in bitcoin as an excuse to knock its inherent strengths to fit their own agendas. However, the reality is that the case for bitcoin to break out this year is stronger than ever,”

Green also opined that central bank economic stimulus initiatives were likely to drive yet more investors to BTC. He also made note of the token’s attractive “underlying fundamentals.”

Green predicted that a surge in interest by investors could likely facilitate a strong price rebound for the token.

At pixel time (12:33 PM UTC), BTC trades at USD 10,197 and is up by 1.6% in a day, trimming its weekly losses to less than 11%. The price is also down by 13% in a month and is almost unchanged in a year.
__
Watch the interview with Ruchir Sharma below:

__
Learn more: Gold and Bitcoin Surge Exposes Generational Divide – JPMorgan