For years, those in the cryptocurrency industry have been pretty certain that those in traditional finance hate them. Seen as wreckers and people who have changed the rules entirely on capital, those who work with normal money and stocks will not be a fan of cryptocurrency.
So much so that we are never far from a big name in the normal banking industry making stark predictions about the future of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
Another example of this comes from the future Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey.
“If you want to invest in Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money” warns the head of the Financial Conduct Authority Andrew Bailey #newsnight pic.twitter.com/WRIwYOPCYQ
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) December 14, 2017
Bailey has expressed almost clear disdain for anyone who is investing in the crypto industry. Indeed, he basically suggested that if you are willing to throw in some money to cryptocurrency then you should be willing to lose it all.
When speaking about Bitcoin in the past, he’s never exactly been complimentary.
Now, though? He’s more assertive about its future than ever before, saying: “If you want to buy Bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money… [Bitcoin] has no intrinsic value.” Despite saying that it had “extrinsic value”, it was about the only good thing he had to say about Bitcoin as a whole.
He also claimed that it hasn’t caught on anything like it was expected that it would. Indeed, these echo the kind of remarks made by big names in traditional capital.
Criticizing Cryptocurrency
Experts such as Warren Buffett have made it clear in the past that they don’t have any real expectation about Bitcoin having value.
Bailey, though, has been far more vocal in his critique of cryptocurrency than most in his kind of position. He’s given the same warning – that you should expect to lose everything – more than once in the pats.
In about a weeks’ time, we will see Bailey take on the role of the new Bank of England Governor. Mark Carney is the man he’ll be replacing, and he has given his support to cryptocurrency platforms like Libra in the past.
So, it’s fair to say that the BoE might have a different viewpoint entirely on crypto once Carney departs and is replaced.
This might bring an end to previous talk that the BoE might try and open up space for a central bank digital currency platform. With Bailey so against the idea, this might be an idea that heads out of the door with Mr. Carney.