European Central Bank Considers Bitcoin A Risk

The European Central Bank has taken a clear stance against Bitcoin. According to it, the kingdom of cryptocurrencies poses a serious risk to society. The ECB document was published some ten days ago, on 12 October, but only today has a fuss been made about it, due to the terms in which the financial body has singled out BTC.

A System to Deceive Crypto Investors

The motivation for this statement is due to the practice that investors who have long held cryptocurrency tend to deceive the newcomers, in buying and selling transactions. It is allegedly speculation on the part of those who have bought at market lows, or in a downturn, with the primary (if not sole) purpose of selling for profit.

Naturally, this is the system in which all financial markets around the world work: every trader or investor aims to buy low, resell high and pocket as much as possible.

We are well aware that this is the practice. But we know just as well that financial stocks are strictly regulated, unlike blockchain. For this reason, the ECB recommends subjecting BTC (and, secondarily, other cryptocurrencies as well) to strict controls, in order to prevent its value - and, thus, selling price - from continuing to increase dramatically, facilitating and inspiring this practice.

The European Central Bank does not trust a currency with which one does not buy goods

"Existing token non-holders have valid reasons to oppose Bitcoin and support legislation against such an asset. The goal must be to prevent the currency's price from rising, even if that means its demise."

Wrote the European Central Bank in its report. In short, institutions still tend to be averse to these new instruments, although many of the clichés surrounding such payment options are slowly falling away. The latest misconception to be disproved was that of illicit transactions.

Often detractors have accused cryptos of facilitating crooks, but according to a recent report by the US Treasury Department, it is still cash that is the payment vehicle of choice for those who need to move unclean money.

Precisions Necessary

The position of the European Central Bank is of course legitimate, but it omits some aspects that would put the current situation in better context. Without providing this specification, one might think that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are designed to provide a speculative platform. In reality, this is not the case.

As is well known, the BTC asset is a finite resource, which will no longer be mined when it reaches the maximum expected distribution threshold. In the original document of the cryptocurrency creator, the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, it is specified that the token is intended to become a decentralised payment instrument and a store of value against the rapid devaluation of fiat currencies. It is no coincidence that the Genesis blockchain, the first to be mined from the Bitcoin blockchain, featured an article in the London Times, dated 3 January 2009 and entitled Chancellor on the brink of a second bank bailout.

The introduction of the crypto ecosystem was intended to act as a counterbalance to the loss of consumer purchasing power due to the erosion of the value of money. Traditional and decentralised finance would do well to try to get closer to each other, rather than continuing with these skirmishes that do not help either of them, let alone those who actually need to exchange money in order to satisfy their needs, wants and desires.

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