--- title: Bitcoin Is Likely to 'Totally Collapse and Be Forgotten,' Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Says description: Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, the author of "Irrational Exuberance," says that Bitcoin is likely to collapse. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2018-01-19T14:50:45.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T12:57:50.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Bitcoin - bubbles - cryptocurrencies - Cryptocurrency - Economics word_count: 335 canonical: https://money.com/bitcoin-predictions-collapse-economist-robert-shiller/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Russian Financial University holds international forum Who Knows What Tomorrow Holds](https://img.money.com/2018/01/bitcoinrobertshiller-em-880777592.jpg) *Robert Shiller, the Nobel Prize winner in economics and author of "Irrational Exuberance."* Robert Shiller, the Nobel Prize-winning Yale economist who [predicted the housing bubble](https://money.com/bitcoin-bubble-robert-shiller/), says that he is mystified by the rise of Bitcoin—but ultimately regards the cryptocurrency as a speculative bubble that is likely to burst. Speaking with [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/19/bitcoin-likely-to-totally-collapse-nobel-laureate-robert-shiller-says.html) in advance of the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where Shiller will give a talk, the author of the best-selling book [*Irrational Exuberance*](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691173125/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=money018f-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0691173125&linkId=c2a117c10665f5ab3c5d71d973ad7f55) said that Bitcoin "has no value at all unless there is some common consensus that it has value." Shiller compared the extraordinary rise in Bitcoin, which surged from around [$800 to over $19,000](https://money.com/there-could-be-as-many-as-200-bitcoin-billionaires-in-the-world-right-now/) in 2017, before [plunging below $10,000](https://money.com/bitcoin-plummets-as-more-governments-crack-down-on-cryptocurrencies/) lately, to ["Tulip mania."](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/there-never-was-real-tulip-fever-180964915/) That's the bizarre period in 17th-century Holland when spiking demand and rampant speculation drove the price of tulips through the roof—before the market collapsed, of course. "We still pay for tulips even now and sometimes they get expensive," Shiller said on CNBC. Similarly, Bitcoin "might totally collapse and be forgotten and I think that's a good likely outcome, but it could linger on for a good long time, it could be here in 100 years." Shiller, who has previously said that the cryptocurrency is spreading "like a contagion," also told CNBC this week that he "doesn't know what to make of Bitcoin ultimately." Last week, billionaire investing genius Warren Buffett also expressed confusion over the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and predicted that the bubble would inevitably pop. “In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending,” [Buffett said](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/10/buffett-says-cyrptocurrencies-will-almost-certainly-end-badly.html) on CNBC. “When it happens or how or anything else, I don’t know.” Nonetheless, some say that Bitcoin and rival cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and [Ripple](https://money.com/ripple-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-crash/) still have plenty of room to run. One analyst from Saxo Bank, which accurately forecast that Bitcoin would triple in value in 2017, recently said that Bitcoin could peak to over $50,000, or even $100,000 this year. However, the same bank is predicting that [Bitcoin could drop back to $1,000](https://www.home.saxo/campaigns/global-campaign/pr/2017-h2/saxo-bank-2018-outrageous-predictions) before 2018 is over. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/bitcoin-predictions-collapse-economist-robert-shiller/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bitcoin", "item": "https://money.com/bitcoin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Bitcoin Is Likely to 'Totally Collapse and Be Forgotten,' Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Says" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/bitcoin-predictions-collapse-economist-robert-shiller/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/bitcoin-predictions-collapse-economist-robert-shiller/", "name": "Bitcoin Is Likely to 'Totally Collapse and Be Forgotten,' Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Says", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2018-01-19T14:50:45.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/bitcoin-predictions-collapse-economist-robert-shiller/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/bitcoin-predictions-collapse-economist-robert-shiller/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:57:50.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Bitcoin Is Likely to 'Totally Collapse and Be Forgotten,' Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Says", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2018/01/bitcoinrobertshiller-em-880777592.jpg", "width": 5184, "height": 3456, "caption": "Russian Financial University holds international forum Who Knows What Tomorrow Holds" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2018-01-19T14:50:45.000Z", "description": "Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, the author of \"Irrational Exuberance,\" says that Bitcoin is likely to collapse.", "abstract": "Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, the author of \"Irrational Exuberance,\" says that Bitcoin is likely to collapse.", "@id": "https://money.com/bitcoin-predictions-collapse-economist-robert-shiller/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:57:50.000Z", "wordCount": 335, "keywords": [ "Bitcoin", "bubbles", "cryptocurrencies", "Cryptocurrency", "Economics" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Investment", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bitcoin", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin" ] } ] } ] } ```