Finance expert warns public on volatility of bitcoin investment

INQUIRER.net image

A bitcoin industry expert has warned against investing to bitcoin cryptocurrency, citing the “volatile” nature of its value.

During a forum on cybersecurity and internet of things called PiliPINASCon 2018 on Wednesday, Miguel Cuneta, co-founder and chief community officer of Satoshi Citadel Industries, Inc., said that while bitcoin continues to be a “growing industry” with its value ranging from $1,000 up to 10,000, it remains to be an “unstable” industry.

“Cryptocurrency is a new technology… But you know if you’re going to invest on it to become rich I don’t recommend that,” Cuneta said.

“All this time, the value is going up but it’s very volatile,” Cuneta added.

The Satoshi executive has been involved in the bitcoin industry since early 2013 and he is regarded as one of the trailblazers in the industry in the Philippines after he co-founded Bitmarket.ph and Rebit.ph.

Despite his background, he reminded possible investors that investing in bitcoins would be a great risk.

“I don’t recommend that you invest in it but if you really want, make sure you know everything about it, make sure you only buy an amount that you’re willing to lose,” Cuneta said.

When asked about how the industry could become target to scams and illegal ploys, Cuneta explained that these anomalies are happening outside the technology itself.

“An exchange is like giving your money to a bank. When you have bitcoins you put it in your phone or computer. If you give your money to an exchange or an institution facilitating that exchange with other people, this has nothing to do with block chain technology governing the bitcoin industry,” he said.

“It’s like you’re giving it to someone else hoping they’d keep it safe. It’s happening outside the block chain outside the technology. It’s literally stealing and has nothing to do with the technology,” he added.

According to Cuneta, bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency or a digital medium of exchange worldwide. It is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or a single administrator.

The industry is governed by a blockchain technology, a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. /jpv

RELATED STORY

Filipinos warned vs bitcoins, cryptocurrencies