Trend forecaster and commentator Gerald Celente said in a new interview that he believes that banks are “afraid” of bitcoin.

Speaking with TheStreet, Celente, who is the publisher of Trends Journal, argued that banks are fearful that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will “take away their business,” going so far as to argue they’re “trying to kill it.”

But while this could be taken as an off-the-cuff comment, Celente appears very much convinced. “There’s no two ways about it,” he said.

In the interview, Celente invoked recent comments from Wall Street figures like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who have largely criticized the cryptocurrency space and, in the case of Dimon, declared bitcoin a fraud. Celente predicted that such attacks can be expected to continue as long as bitcoin is around.

He said in the interview:

“[The] banks are going to continue to talk it down because it makes banking obsolete and the banksters obsolete. So they’re going to do everything they can to stop it.”

And while Celente says he doesn’t own any cryptocurrencies – noting that “I’d rather invest in a tangible, so I invest in gold” – he believes the market isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“We don’t believe it’s going to go away. We don’t know the [long-term], but the price shot up too quickly as we see it.”

Looking beyond the speculative dynamics of the market, Celente said that cryptocurrencies are attracting attention because they offer an alternative to existing structures both financial and political.

“What bitcoin also represents is the populist movements around the world. People don’t wanna be attached to crooked governments and central banks,” he said.

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