Cryptocurrency Not Proven Safe Haven Says Investor Mark Mobius

Mark Mobius, major investor and founding partner of Mobius Capital Partners, is still bearish on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology... with some caveats.

Speaking on CNBC’s The Squawk Box this morning concerning emerging markets and safe-haven asset classes, Mobius said cryptocurrencies, like fiat, are backed by faith and only hold utility as far as others are willing to use them.

“The bottom line is there is a whole generation of people who have faith in the internet, they have faith in these cryptocurrencies…the degree to which a cryptocurrency can enable you to buy something and you believe that to be the case, then that’s fine.”

Mobius said a gold-backed cryptocurrency run on the blockchain would be of interest, however. “If there is a cryptocurrency that is really backed by gold and there is a meaningful agreement and some kind of modern thing connection, then this could be quite interesting,” he said.

On blockchain, the investor remains skeptical. Mobius said the underlying technology itself remains open to attacks.

“I believe blockchain is a very high-risk situation . . . anything that’s created by man can be broken into . . . and it could create a big crises, so I think we have to be very careful with blockchain.”

The statements follow the stablecoin issuer Paxos' announcement of a gold-backed cryptocurrency earlier today. Tokenized on the ethereum blockchain, Pax Gold (PAXG), entitles holders to a gold bar stored London by Brinks.

Mark Mobius image via CNBC