Statistically speaking, Bitcoin (BTC) has given profit to its investors 95.7% of the time (3963 days out of 4141 days). We have seen its price climbing from near zero to about $69,000 in about a decade. The pioneer cryptocurrency is also one of the largest cryptocurrencies globally. It is unarguably one of the most profitable financial assets. 
<h2>Bitcoin's Detractors </h2>
Despite the phenomenal growth, Bitcoins detractors have debated long and hard that it's only a matter of time until the value of Bitcoin reaches zero. The Bank of England's deputy governor, Sir Jon Cunliffe, said, "Their price can vary quite considerably, and bitcoins could theoretically or practically drop to zero." He also warned on the risks for the Bank linked with the cryptocurrency.

Many investors such as Warren Buffet (even his partner Charlie Munger) share a disbelief in Cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin. 
<h2>The Flipside </h2>
On the other hand, Bitcoin has been flooded with institutional investments in recent months, with companies including Tesla, <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/microstrategy-buys-more-bitcoin-now-holds-122478-btc-ceo-says-bitcoin-is-taking-golds-place/">MicroStrategy</a>, Aker ASA, Square buying Bitcoins for their Corporate Treasuries. Bitcoin Exchange Traded Products have also boomed because of Canada's <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/purpose-bitcoin-etf-holds-22-5k-coins-indicating-strong-institutional-demand/">Purpose Bitcoin ETF</a> launch, making it one of the first products established in North America. Institutional investments such as these have propelled Bitcoin's bull run and are viewed as substantiating proof that the coin, now which has a trillion-dollar market capitalization, is here to stay.

To make its value turn to zero, it will take a lot. 
<h2>Can Bitcoin Become Worthless?</h2>
Yukun Liu and Aleh Tsyvinski, two Yale Economists in 2018, published a report, 'Risks and Returns of Cryptocurrency.' They examined the risk and possibility of Bitcoin collapsing to zero within a day. 

Using Bitcoin's historical returns, they computed and calculated its risk-neutral disaster probability. They found out that the likelihood of any unexpected or unspecified disaster crashing Bitcoin's value to zero had a possibility in the range of 0% to 1.3% and was around 0.4% during the time of publishing. For a comparison with Fiat, Tsyvinski mentioned that Euro had a 0.009% chance of the same occurrence.

Some people argue that eventually, Bitcoin will lose its value and eventually crash to zero because of the lack of intrinsic value. Supporters retort that Bitcoin is backed with Consumer Confidence and Mathematics. 

Even though Bitcoin is often framed as an opposition to Fiat currencies such as US Dollars, Sterling Pounds, which were once backed by gold, are now backed by any physical commodity. Again, some people will argue that US Dollars are at least backed by debt.

The arguments go endlessly, and they don't stop. 
<h2>The Fringe Case </h2>
Suppose Bitcoin does indeed crash to zero in all of its possibilities. In that case, it will implicate that either it has become impossible to trade bitcoins or exchange goods and services with it, or even that the buy-side liquidity has dropped to zero for any number of reasons. One of the only plausible scenarios we can think of is that all of the 195 sovereign nations ban bitcoin and render it illegal to own, which few of the countries are trying or have tried.

Not to mention the time it will take to take and shut down the entire Bitcoin Network, taking all of its nodes offline, including the nodes in space, and making it impossible to set up new ones. 

Theoretically, it would make it impossible to possess and trade Bitcoin underground or in the 'Black Market and likely render Bitcoin Worthless, but all of this will be practically impossible to accomplish. The decentralization and global network is the value proposition and the foundational principle of Blockchain. 

Another possibility could be that Bitcoin is <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/if-bitcoin-is-gold-2-0-ethereum-is-bitcoin-2-0/">superseded</a> by a better cryptocurrency or an alternative method of the payment system, making Bitcoin obsolete (and thus making it worthless as a store of value). But this scenario could also take decades to play out. 

Whatever be the case, it is evident that Bitcoin will anyhow retain some value, either as a collector's item or as a historical artifact.

A similar scenario happened during demonetization in India when RBI demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November 2016 due to an increase in counterfeit notes. Even though those notes are worthless as legal tenders, they do retain some value as artifacts.

Will Bitcoin Really Become 'Worthless'?

Can Bitcoin really become a 'worthless' digital asset. Read on to find the scenarios in which bitcoin could become worthless.

Pranav is not your next-door crypto geek. He Vehemently pursues his passion for writing and his insatiable thirst for the crypto-verse. A wordsmith who likes to keep his words on chain and  has a flair for explaining complex concepts, ideas and nuances in the most basic and relatable form

Will Bitcoin Really Become 'Worthless'?

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