Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, often referred to as India’s Warren Buffet, has lent his support to a rumored upcoming ban against cryptocurrencies in the country.
In an interview today with CNBC, the billionaire labeled bitcoin as “speculation of the highest order” and said, “he will never buy Bitcoin.” At the same time, he advised regulators to quench the fire on bitcoin by announcing a ban.
There are already wild speculations about India banning bitcoin, and regarding this, Jhunjhunwala said,
“I think regulators should step in and ban bitcoin.” He also recommended that the country “focus on the digital rupee,” a planned central bank digital currency that will exist alongside physical cash.
Mr. Jhunjhunwala’s negative comments about Bitcoin follow similar sentiments shared earlier this week by U.S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Worth nothing is that Yellen did not say anything relating to a Bitcoin ban in the U.S. Instead, she wrote off bitcoin as being ‘inefficient and speculative’ and at the same time recommending that the U.S focuses on developing a digital dollar.
Bitcoin Dips Below $50k For the First Time in a Week
The spate of negative comments about Bitcoin has coincided with a largely anticipated market correction that pushed BTC prices below $50,000 for the first time in a week. The leading cryptocurrency even suffered a dip just above $45,000 but held on to that support by a thread to initiate a rebound.
Bitcoin trades close to $47,000 at press time, continuing consolidation within the $45200 support and the $48900 range. A break below $45,200 would see Bitcoin revisit the $42,000 range and cap the market correction at roughly 30% of the $58,600 all-time high recorded at the weekend.
Looking at longer timeframes, Bitcoin is still up over 60% on the year-to-date chart and 398% up in the last year alone. Going into what could prove the best testing period for the current market rally, Bitcoin’s market cap is at $876 billion, while the total crypto market cap sits above the $1.4 trillion mark.
