[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] Veteran economist and bestselling author Jim Rickards (짐 리카즈) raised doubts about Bitcoin (BTC), saying it is an asset that is easier to trace forensically than people think, calling into question its security and practicality.

The Crypto Basic, a blockchain outlet, reported on April 8 that Rickards argued in a recent podcast that blockchain technology should be viewed separately from the cryptocurrencies that run on it.

Rickards assessed blockchain itself relatively positively, calling it a technology that can be trusted. He said blockchain is a technology that has evolved since the 1980s and is expanding its role in record-keeping systems. He drew a line, saying the robustness of the underlying technology does not directly translate into the security or usefulness of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

He particularly pointed to the traceability of transactions on the Bitcoin network. Blockchain itself is not very easy to hack, but transactions on networks such as Bitcoin can be tracked and analysed much more easily than many users think, he said. Citing his experience in U.S. national security-related work, Rickards said forensic tracking tools could make Bitcoin activity more transparent than users expect. "It's much easier to hack from a forensic standpoint than people think," he said.

He also offered a negative assessment of cryptocurrencies' practical uses. Rickards said he has examined the field for years, including reviewing Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin white paper, but in the end sees cryptocurrencies as closer to a speculative system than a practical, innovation-driven one. "Cryptocurrency is like a casino," he said, arguing that value circulates only within the ecosystem.

Rickards likened transactions moving between assets such as Tether, Ethereum and Solana to exchanging casino chips. In this process, he assessed stablecoins such as Tether as serving as a holding tool that shifts liquidity between trades. Movement between cryptocurrencies may be active, but whether that value expands outside the crypto ecosystem is a separate issue, he said.

He also mentioned limitations as an everyday payment method. Rickards said users can convert cryptocurrencies into fiat currency and then spend it, but argued that clear uses for directly spending assets such as Bitcoin in daily life are limited. He viewed cryptocurrencies as failing to show clear consumption utility outside trading environments.

The remarks bring an old debate over cryptocurrencies back into focus. While some, like Rickards, question security and usefulness, market supporters counter by citing broader adoption, improved infrastructure and growing real-world uses. The outlet said, "Even as institutional funds flow more deeply into the market, debate continues over whether cryptocurrencies are speculative instruments or will become a foundation of financial technology."