European Central Bank says "cumbersome, slow and expensive" Bitcoin is on "road to irrelevance"

[midian182]

A hot potato: Bitcoin is not having the best time right now. The crypto winter that began earlier this year has seen digital currency prices plummet and companies going bankrupt. BTC hasn't been immune to the effects, which has led the European Central Bank (ECB) to label it as being on the "road to irrelevance."

The collapse of TerraUSD in May wiped almost $1 trillion off the crypto market. We've since seen the Celsius Network declare bankruptcy, FTX fall apart, and millions of dollars worth of investments lost—Justin Bieber's Bored Ape NFT is an example of the broader impact.

Some long-term holders (HODLers) of Bitcoin might wonder if they should have sold their BTC back in November 2021, when it peaked at $69,000. The world's most popular crypto is currently at $16,827, and the ECB thinks things are going to get worse.

Bitcoin's price over the last year is down 70%

Bitcoin had been hovering around $20,000 for some time. ECB Director General Ulrich Bindseil and Analyst Jürgen Schaff said that although proponents might have seen this as signs of stability before the price started to rise, it was, in fact, "an artificially induced last gasp before the road to irrelevance – and this was already foreseeable before FTX went bust and sent the bitcoin price to well down below $16,000."

The ECB wasn't finished with its tirade against the crypto. "Bitcoin's conceptual design and technological shortcomings make it questionable as a means of payment: real Bitcoin transactions are cumbersome, slow and expensive. Bitcoin has never been used to any significant extent for legal real-world transactions."

The post then makes the same criticism of Bitcoin put forward by one of its biggest detractors, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who once said he wouldn't buy all the Bitcoin in the world for $25 because it isn't actually worth anything or produces anything.

"Bitcoin is also not suitable as an investment. It does not generate cash flow (like real estate) or dividends (like equities), cannot be used productively (like commodities) or provide social benefits (like gold). The market valuation of Bitcoin is therefore based purely on speculation," wrote Bindseil and Schaff.

With governments rushing to implement more regulation over crypto markets following FTX's collapse, the ECB pair warn that such action should not be misunderstood as approval. "The belief that space must be given to innovation at all costs stubbornly persists," they wrote. "Firstly, these technologies have so far created limited value for society — no matter how great the expectations for the future. Secondly, the use of a promising technology is not a sufficient condition for an added value of a product based on it."

The amount of damage Bitcoin mining does to the environment was also highlighted in the post, including the energy used to mine (comparable to Austria) and the e-waste it generates.

The ECB has never made its dislike of crypto a secret—President Christine Lagarde said it is both based on and worth "nothing" in May—and many central banks worldwide often warn against investing in digital assets. It certainly seems to be hated by older generations of investors and bankers, too—Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger called it a "venereal disease."

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96807-european-central-bank-cumbersome-slow-expensive-bitcoin-road.html

 

[bviktor]

Stating the obvious. BTC was never useful as a means of currency. Never.

https://I.redd.it/rvjlgvpd5yy61.png

 

[Kirby1]

Would be great if bitcoin just disappeared

 

[m4a4]

Stating the obvious. BTC was never useful as a means of currency. Never.

https://I.redd.it/rvjlgvpd5yy61.png

Where are the stats on all the upkeep (particularly for Visa)? Last I checked, most crypto (at least, people's favourite ones to target) doesn't have external factors like servers (or phyisical locations in a bank's situation)...

If you're going to quote a fancy looking stats page, at least make sure it tries to be honest...

 

[umbala]

Where are all the crypto-zealots? I can't wait to see how they spin this as a good thing. BTC prices are low, now is the time to buy, right? If you love crypto it's time to put all your money into it right now and go down with the sinking ship.

 

[Hodor]

Just like with any other commodity, stock, forex, gold, platinum or whatever, when all the mainstream media say something is bad and is going to bankrupt or disappear...... that means the opposite will happen.

We know that mass media rarely tell truth, but at least they are very consistent in their lies. When they say "green" you know it's "red". When they say "this is healthy food" it means "don't eat that". When they say "sell that crap" you know it's a buy signal. As long as you do the opposite of what they say, you'll find MSM a 95% reliable source of information.

 

[MaXtor]

A central bank says a decentralized currency is bad, in other news, Pepsi says Coca Cola sucks.

 

[Nobina]

IMO crypto should be gone years ago but it's here and I think it's never going away.

 

[novitzky]

Just like with any other commodity, stock, forex, gold, platinum or whatever, when all the mainstream media say something is bad and is going to bankrupt or disappear...... that means the opposite will happen.

We know that mass media rarely tell truth, but at least they are very consistent in their lies. When they say "green" you know it's "red". When they say "this is healthy food" it means "don't eat that". When they say "sell that crap" you know it's a buy signal. As long as you do the opposite of what they say, you'll find MSM a 95% reliable source of information.

That's it? That's the argument? Everything is a conspiracy? A very simple philosophy.

 

[umbala]

A central bank says a decentralized currency is bad, in other news, Pepsi says Coca Cola sucks.

Yes, that's exactly what this is. That's precisely how simple, black and white things are in the world. Now watch me as I roll my eyes.

 

[umbala]

Just like with any other commodity, stock, forex, gold, platinum or whatever, when all the mainstream media say something is bad and is going to bankrupt or disappear...... that means the opposite will happen.

We know that mass media rarely tell truth, but at least they are very consistent in their lies. When they say "green" you know it's "red". When they say "this is healthy food" it means "don't eat that". When they say "sell that crap" you know it's a buy signal. As long as you do the opposite of what they say, you'll find MSM a 95% reliable source of information.

Every single thing you just said is grade A bull plop. First of all, crypto is nothing like any other commodity, stock, etc. Right off the bat you're comparing apples to oranges. Did you even read the article? I'm guessing no. Everything the mainstream media says is a lie? Man, you should invest all your money in tin foil stock, you'll need it for all those hats.

The problem with your theory is that it's not the mainstream media saying these things, but everyone else. Is this website part of the mainstream media? Are the other hundreds of sites saying the same thing a part of it too? What about all the investors and people knowledgeable in this area? Are they all part of the conspiracy?

In the end you can ignore what everyone says, but the price of crypto speaks for itself. You know something is safe to invest in when its value can drop 90% overnight... oh wait. On top of that, I didn't even bring up all the so called crypto exchanges that have been going belly up while stealing literally billions upon billions of investor dollars in the process.

The people who were left holding the bag are desperately trying to prop up the value of crypto currencies with nonsense explanations, claims of temporary "crypto winter", countless fake trades to make it look like there's actual demand when in fact anyone with any common sense already got out, etc, etc.

The only thing you people are HODL'ing is a big bag of feces.

 

[umbala]

That's it? That's the argument? Everything is a conspiracy? A very simple philosophy.

Yeah bro, now is the time to invest all your savings in crypto at rock bottom prices and the mainstream media really pushing the narrative of crypto's demise. This can only mean one thing, crypto is about to explode and bitcoin is going to hit $100,000 or more! Buy now or get left behind.


End sarcasm.

 

[Karlos95]

Where are all the crypto-zealots? I can't wait to see how they spin this as a good thing. BTC prices are low, now is the time to buy, right? If you love crypto it's time to put all your money into it right now and go down with the sinking ship.

Gonna eat your words in the next few years

 

[Karlos95]

Every single thing you just said is grade A bull plop. First of all, crypto is nothing like any other commodity, stock, etc. Right off the bat you're comparing apples to oranges. Did you even read the article? I'm guessing no. Everything the mainstream media says is a lie? Man, you should invest all your money in tin foil stock, you'll need it for all those hats.

The problem with your theory is that it's not the mainstream media saying these things, but everyone else. Is this website part of the mainstream media? Are the other hundreds of sites saying the same thing a part of it too? What about all the investors and people knowledgeable in this area? Are they all part of the conspiracy?

In the end you can ignore what everyone says, but the price of crypto speaks for itself. You know something is safe to invest in when its value can drop 90% overnight... oh wait. On top of that, I didn't even bring up all the so called crypto exchanges that have been going belly up while stealing literally billions upon billions of investor dollars in the process.

The people who were left holding the bag are desperately trying to prop up the value of crypto currencies with nonsense explanations, claims of temporary "crypto winter", countless fake trades to make it look like there's actual demand when in fact anyone with any common sense already got out, etc, etc.

The only thing you people are HODL'ing is a big bag of feces.

I'm not going to comment on commodities. But stocks and the dollar are just as fraudulent. Stocks can be shorted and shorted again, basically creating fake stocks. The dollar can be printed over and over, devaluing it. Not only that, if everyone tried to take their money out of the bank, the system would collapse, only 10% of all money is in the bank. The rest is "loaned" out. Basically fake numbers on a screen.


The media follow a script. They don't do their own investigations, they get told what to say.

A time ago they used to investigate before reporting, now they get told what to say by higher ups.

Only have to look at the crypto world, anytime crypto scandal happens, they are quick to bash it, but this SBF guy has just done the biggest scam ever (not just in the crypto world) and the media are praising him and not investigating him. Why? Because he donated to both the political parties! It's easy not to go to jail in the USA, your "leaders" are easily bought.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I love these stories - just need to tie every BTC story with NFTs - the more stories that rain on the parade - the less "investors" .
No BTC investor has address the market cap BS if BTC hits 100 000 as predicted - many said it would hit 1 million. That is 2 Trillion Market cap at 100G .

Really??? - once a run happens the Cap will tend to zero - and it's 20 Trillion at 1 Million - all the gold is 11 Trillion.

At the moment it's $328 Billion Cap - no way would you even get close to getting that it closed out .

Go to Reddit - best time to buy - buying every week with excess money - hilarious.

Anyway drown the world in feel bad stories about BTC - losers , same as NFT suckers .
Ponzi schemes need hype and fomo - you are special , insider , so smarter than everyone else .
The smart roller coaster riders are probably now just enjoying life and looking for next roller coaster to scam money .
My prediction in one year BTC still below $25 000

 

[tellmewhy]

If they remove the illegal KYC requirement when someone buys cryptos, then automatically fiat money is dead in the next 5 years. Nowhere are citizens required to send copies of their ID to purchase anything (especially text lines). It's against a whole bunch of laws (personal data, privacy of communications, freedom of market access, etc.). That's how "confident" they are.

They just want to collect taxes and interest for using a medium for the transactions even if there is a free alternative medium. It's like they demand to send your ID if you want to use free open source software that works perfectly to force you to use expensive commercial software with bugs.

If they dare let’s remove the illegal KYC requirement and will see… now if someone want accept payments in crypto it means that have to enforce his clients to send their id to buy crypto. It’s huge obstacle, but it will fall one day.

And then you will only need a non custodial wallet (like atomic wallet for example) and you will be free to own and handle all the types of crypto from one place.

 

[Hodor]

That's it? That's the argument? Everything is a conspiracy? A very simple philosophy.

Not everything is a conspiracy. Not all media are liars. Just the big mainstream media. Think about this: If you wanted to misinform majority of people, would you corrupt the biggest media, with the largest audience, or a thousand of small media, which nobody really take seriously?

That's right. And that's what they did. It's not quantum physics.

MSM don't lie about everything. Just about things that are hard to check immediately. If they say there was a magnitude 6 earthquake in Chile today, they won't lie about that. No benefit from that lie. And it's too easy to check.

 

[Hodor]

In the end you can ignore what everyone says, but the price of crypto speaks for itself. You know something is safe to invest in when its value can drop 90% overnight... oh wait. On top of that, I didn't even bring up all the so called crypto exchanges that have been going belly up while stealing literally billions upon billions of investor dollars in the process.

I never said you can't make big money on crypto. You can earn money on Forex. Or on gold. On stocks of various companies (Tesla, for example). You can also lose money if you sell at the wrong moment.

In fact, if you read my post, I've said that right now we've received the "buy" signal. When MSM starts saying that BitCoin will sink, that's the moment to buy it. When they say "it's in explosive growth, it's gonna break the $500,000 barrier, don't sell yet" the very next week it will plummet. Just do the opposite of what they suggest. Right now they said "BitCoin is going down and maybe disappear" to which I say "it's a buy signal".

 

[Hodor]

Only have to look at the crypto world, anytime crypto scandal happens, they are quick to bash it, but this SBF guy has just done the biggest scam ever (not just in the crypto world) and the media are praising him and not investigating him. Why? Because he donated to both the political parties! It's easy not to go to jail in the USA, your "leaders" are easily bought.

Yeah, many things we believe in are scam. Money that we call "real" is fiat. Crypto is a digital scam, it can easily disappear or become useless. Gold is real, rare metal that cannot be easily produced (unless you own a really big star that's about to explode), but it's not that important for most of living creatures. Diamonds, same thing. You can't eat them. And they can even be produced.

Real value is in things that are useful for survival. Real-estate is a piece of our planet's surface. The only planet with living conditions in close neighborhood. Water. No life without water. Air. Food. Energy. Friends. Those are real values. Useful for survival. The rest is fiat.

 

[Karlos95]

Yeah, many things we believe in are scam. Money that we call "real" is fiat. Crypto is a digital scam, it can easily disappear or become useless. Gold is real, rare metal that cannot be easily produced (unless you own a really big star that's about to explode), but it's not that important for most of living creatures. Diamonds, same thing. You can't eat them. And they can even be produced.

Real value is in things that are useful for survival. Real-estate is a piece of our planet's surface. The only planet with living conditions in close neighborhood. Water. No life without water. Air. Food. Energy. Friends. Those are real values. Useful for survival. The rest is fiat.

I agree, but I trust Bitcoin over those other things top end of town can't produce more for themselves with bitcoin, they seem to have worked out how to make more of those other things to suit them (loaning money they don't have, "selling" gold they don't actually have a reserve for) Crypto as a whole though has a lot of serious issues and heaps of people keep getting duped by "the next bitcoin". So many sheep will run to the next hyped up thing whether it be a stock, crypto or commodity...

Doesn't mean I can't use those "assets" to help me create more "fiat" to buy the things that matter for survival

 

[ZedRM]

ECB is just barely figuring out what many of us knew years ago..

 

[Karlos95]

ECB is just barely figuring out what many of us knew years ago..

Years ago? When the prices would go up 1000s of %'s? Ok mate, nice tale.
What's the excuse when it doubles and doubles again in the next few years?

 

[James Ryan]

Where are the stats on all the upkeep (particularly for Visa)? Last I checked, most crypto (at least, people's favourite ones to target) doesn't have external factors like servers (or phyisical locations in a bank's situation)...

If you're going to quote a fancy looking stats page, at least make sure it tries to be honest...

They never compare apples to apples.
It's typical bear market content.

 

[Hodor]

I agree, but I trust Bitcoin over those other things top end of town can't produce more for themselves with bitcoin, they seem to have worked out how to make more of those other things to suit them (loaning money they don't have, "selling" gold they don't actually have a reserve for) Crypto as a whole though has a lot of serious issues and heaps of people keep getting duped by "the next bitcoin". So many sheep will run to the next hyped up thing whether it be a stock, crypto or commodity...

Doesn't mean I can't use those "assets" to help me create more "fiat" to buy the things that matter for survival

Yeah, true, at the moment we're living in a world that has created possibility of swapping virtual stuff (whether they are in-game items, fiat money, crypto, or whatever) for real stuff. Enabling rich people to get something for nothing, so to speak.

Clearly, it won't last long. Because reality always wins. Natural laws win every time. But while it lasts, why not use the Ponzi scheme to work for us, right?

 

[godrilla]

You will own nothing and be happy World Economic forum. Pop quiz for anyone that loves censorship. If the central banks control most forms of information and media how else would you know what is really going on if they take away your ability to get information from likes of Twitter? Hmm? Please don't check mate yourself!