The Economist Involved in Blowing Up Long Term Capital Management is Part of a Team Launching a Cryptocurrency

Myron Scholes

Well, this should make cryptocurrencies official. Establishment cronies are about to launch their own cryptocurrency.

A bunch of establishment technocrat economists on Thursday announced plans to create their own cryptocurrency that governments should just love.

Included amongst the creative team is none other than Myron Scholes, who was an adviser to the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management, which managed to blow up billions with idiotic high-risk trading techniques. Scholes never saw the blow-up coming.

The new cryptocurrency, Saga, aims, according to the Financial Times," to position itself as an alternative digital currency that is more acceptable to the financial and political establishment."

It is being launched by a Swiss foundation with an advisory board featuring in addition to Scholes, Jacob Frenkel, chairman of JPMorgan Chase International and former governor of the Bank of Israel; and Dan Galai, co-creator of the Vix volatility index.

The Saga token aims to avoid the wild price swings of many cryptocurrencies by tethering itself to reserves deposited in a basket of fiat currencies at commercial banks. Holders of Saga will be able to claim their money back by cashing in the cryptocurrency.

And the currency, get this, also aims to avoid the anonymity afforded by bitcoin, which has raised financial crime concerns with regulators and bankers. Saga will require owners to pass anti-money laundering checks and allow national authorities to check the identity of a holder when required.

-Robert Wenzel