Eugene Fama, a Nobel Prize winner known as the “Father of Modern Finance,” thinks bitcoin will be worth nothing within 10 years, Bitcoinist reports.

Fama’s thesis is rooted in two core beliefs. First, bitcoin is highly unpredictable, making it an unreliable form of payment. Second, bitcoin is not backed by a central authority, whereas fiat currencies are supported by their governments.

Just on Monday, markets and cryptocurrencies were rattled by Trump tariffs, dragging bitcoin to a three-week low of $94,476.18.

Bitcoin loyalists, however, argue the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency is evolving into something else akin to digital gold.

Enthusiasts say it is immune to inflation and government control, and note that there are only 21 million bitcoins on the market, which makes it scarce.

The volatility that stems from this is a plus, rather than a minus, they believe. Many compare bitcoin to gold, in the sense that it does not need to be used widely for payments to have great value.

They go on to argue that Fama’s premise that bitcoin could plummet to zero is flawed. There will never be a worldwide ban on bitcoin, they say. Yes, the technology supporting bitcoin could be temporarily disrupted, and a competitor could gain favor.

Nevertheless, bitcoin is resilient, having survived many crashes and regulatory crackdowns.

What proponents and detractors can agree on, though, is that bitcoin is still evolving, and its role in banking and payments has not yet been fully established.