(AOF) – “With the election of Donald Trump, the price of Bitcoin has soared, which is attracting new investors such as pension funds,” notes Sylvain Bersinger, chief economist at Asterès, in a note published this Thursday. For him, this enthusiasm among investors supposed to prudently manage the savings entrusted to them, coupled with a probable reduction in regulations by Donald Trump, “poses a new risk in the event of a reversal in the price”, “probable for an asset n 'having no intrinsic value'.
The president-elect declared that he wanted to make the United States the crypto capital of the planet, which would involve a reduction in regulations and in particular the dismissal of Gary Gensler, the president of the SEC, “considered hostile to the sector”.
With the price rising, more and more traditional funds such as pension funds are integrating Bitcoin (or ETFs based on Bitcoin) into their portfolio, “admittedly for still limited amounts”.
If the price of bitcoin collapsed, it would result in a fall in the value of funds having invested in this asset, which could have repercussions on the value of pensions received and therefore on the level of consumption.
The economist envisages “panic movements, which could destabilize banks or investment funds”. “The risk of a financial crisis, very difficult to predict with certainty, seems low at this stage but could increase.” “The last two banking crises, in 2023 and 2008, should encourage caution,” believes Sylvain Bersinger, recalling that “banking deregulation was one of the causes of the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank”.
“It is paradoxical to see Bitcoin, thought of by its supporters as a way to bypass traditional financial players, being adopted by the same intermediaries that it was supposed to bypass,” he notes.
