Roubini Predicts ‘Crypto Apocalypse’ Amid Bitcoin’s Plunge Under Trump-Era Policies

Roubini said that Bitcoin behaves like an extreme bet, rising and falling around high-risk stocks rather than preventing uncertainty.

Economist Nouriel Roubini, known for his anti-crypto speeches, has predicted the coming “crypto apocalypse”. He explained that the future of money and payments will evolve gradually rather than face the revolutionary change promised by cryptocurrency advocates.

In a recent letter, Roubini said the recent drop in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies shows the extreme volatility of what he called the “fake asset class,” and expressed hope that policymakers recognize the risks before more damage is done.

He recalled that one year earlier, Donald Trump had returned to the office of the US president after negotiating with crypto investors and receiving significant support from the figures of the crypto industry. This led several evangelists to predict that Bitcoin will reach at least $200,000 by the end of 2025 and become “digital gold.”

Roubini: Bitcoin Is Not a Hedge

According to Roubini, Trump followed by dismantling many crypto laws, signing the National Innovation for US Stable Coins (GENIUS) Act, pushing the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, profiting from domestic and foreign crypto deals, promoting a meme coin with his name, pardoning private criminals connected to secret crypto criminals inside the White House.

Roubini noted that crypto is also expected to benefit from macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, including rising public debt, fiat currency deregulation, trade wars, and growing tensions involving the US, Iran, and China, factors associated with gold rising more than 60% by 2025.

Bitcoin, however, is down 6% that year and, at the time of writing, is down 42% from its October peak and is below its pre-Trump election levels, while TRUMP and MELANIA meme coins are down 95%. Roubini said Bitcoin has repeatedly fallen during times when gold has rallied, and said it behaves like a risky asset relative to a speculative stock rather than a hedge.

He reiterated his long-term opinion that crypto does not work as money, since it is not a unit of account, a downward payment system, or a stable store of value, while citing the experience of El Salvador, where Bitcoin accounted for less than 5% of transactions. He also said that crypto is not a real asset because it has no sources of income or real-world utility.

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On Stablecoins and Regulations

Roubini said that the only widely accepted crypto application after 17 years is a stablecoin, which he described as a digital form of fiat money that has already been duplicated by traditional currencies, and maintained that most blockchain-based systems are centralized, permissioned, and privately controlled. He argued that fully decentralized finance will not grow because governments will not allow anonymous transactions, and that AML and KYC requirements undermine claims of low costs.

While talking about the regulation, Roubini warned the GENIUS law risks creating the instability of free banking of the 19th century, as stablecoins lack narrow bank regulation, access to last resort, or deposit insurance, making them vulnerable to run. He also criticized proposals to allow stablecoins to pay interest, and said this could undermine fractional reserve banking unless payments and credit creation are structurally separated.

Roubini’s comments come as Bitcoin continues its decline, down a fresh 6% on Thursday and trading below $71,600 at the time of writing. The recent drop has added to broader market unease, and analysts warn that continued weakness in BTC could have wider ramifications. Market experts have raised concerns that firms holding large BTC holdings may face significant balance sheet stress and systemic risk if prices continue to slide.