350% or 5BTC + 150 Spins!
New players only. Exclusive Welcome Bonus of 350% + 150 Free Spins
Back in 2018, Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff confidently claimed that Bitcoin was more likely to sink to $100 than rise to $100,000 within a decade. Seven years later, Bitcoin has crossed $124,000 and left that prediction in the dust. Rogoff himself has now admitted he was spectacularly wrong.
Good to know
Writing on X, Rogoff confessed that he underestimated Bitcoin’s staying power. He pointed to three main reasons: regulation never came in the way he expected, the crypto underground economy remained strong, and even authority figures ended up holding BTC despite conflicts of interest.
The reversal arrived just as Bitcoin set fresh records, blowing past its December 2017 peak near $19,000, its 2021 high around $69,000, and now firmly above $124,000. For perspective, when Rogoff gave his interview in January 2018 on CNBC’s Squawk Box, BTC was hovering near $11,200 after crashing from $19,000 just weeks earlier.
“I think Bitcoin will be worth a tiny fraction of what it is now if we’re headed out 10 years from now,” Rogoff told CNBC at the time. “I would see $100 as being a lot more likely than $100,000 ten years from now.”
The professor’s climbdown has been met with equal parts mockery and reflection. Analyst Bit Paine quipped that Rogoff’s mistake was like a marine biologist claiming a blue whale weighs 200 pounds. Long-time Bitcoin advocate Robert Breedlove dismissed him outright, saying he didn’t value Rogoff’s opinion then and doesn’t now.
Meanwhile, economist Jan Wüstenfeld countered Rogoff’s old narrative that Bitcoin thrives on money laundering and tax evasion. He pointed instead to inflation, monetary expansion, and rising debt as the true drivers of Bitcoin adoption worldwide.