 An economist Mark Thornton. He's the senior of fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Hi there I'm gonna ask if you've got any bitcoins, but I shan't start with that. That'd be too nosy What do you make of this milestones there? Well, I think it's a matter of just just a matter of time that this Bitcoin took over and what we've seen recently is that there's a Lot more acceptance of Bitcoin by both merchants and by governments even Amazon this week What's that even Amazon this week? Oh, yes, and even at the Ludwig von Mises Institute We now accept bitcoins for donations and bookstore sales So it's it's in in other countries the acceptance that retailers is even greater But more importantly governments have recognized Bitcoin. They're willing to accept it They realize that it's the type of currency going forward in the world where it's more secure It's more private. It's more efficient and it holds its value better as well What about that old saying that what goes up must come down at some point in brackets? Oh Well, this is a very very volatile Medium of exchange. It's not surprising that it's very volatile because it's reacting to world events And you know, there's 36 other crypto currencies that are also vying in the marketplace So we have a lot of volatility to look forward to So it's not something you want to kind of put your pension in then really is it Well, the people who are putting their money in it are the people who face a lot of risk A lot of people in China are putting their money into it A lot of people in India are putting their money into it and a lot of people in Iran are putting their money into it Because they're facing hyperinflation and the prospects for military attack on their country Of course said the American government and the FBI looking very closely at it as well because it has been used as well For shady deals drug deals, etc. Etc. Yes, but Bitcoin accounts for less than one half of 1% of all of its Transactions into top entirety compared to the worldwide illegal trade in goods and services So it's a very very small player and actually it's the US dollar that is the medium of exchange of choice Of criminals around the world We talked about how bitcoins catching on just now it's really catching on in China, isn't it? I guess no surprises, but why particularly China? Well, they've the government has accepted it in full Chinese merchants have accepted it in full and of course there's also been a political turnover and with that political turnover There's going to be reprisals and some so some of those high Government bureaucrats are probably putting their money into Bitcoin in order to exit the country Well with the rate just been going at the moment up and up and up when's it going to be snapping at the dollar's heels, do you think? Well, yes, I think you're going to see much higher prices for Bitcoin I don't forecast market prices, but I think that over time you're going to see Bitcoin Rising in value because fiat currencies are continuing to depreciate around the world We're in a world currency war and that spells good things for investors in Bitcoin Economist Mike Thornton. Thank you for your thoughts. Nice to have you on the program Thank you