US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned of the dangers of Bitcoin when the price of the cryptocurrency took a plunge. She views Bitcoin as a highly speculative asset and is concerned about potential losses investors may suffer. Yellen also believes that Bitcoin is not widely used as a transaction mechanism because of its inefficiency, and reiterates her view that the cryptocurrency is widely used for “illegal funding”.
Janet Yellen’s warning about Bitcoin
Janet Yellen blasted bitcoin again Monday in an interview with CNBC at the New York Times Dealbook conference. The finance minister “warned of the dangers Bitcoin poses for both investors and the public,” said the news agency.
Regarding Bitcoin, Yellen was quoted as saying:
It is a highly speculative asset and you know I think people should be aware that it can be extremely volatile and I am concerned about possible losses that investors may take.
Bitcoin price started falling sharply on Sunday afternoon, falling nearly 18% from its high of over $ 58,000 to $ 47,827 at the time of writing, based on data from Markets.Bitcoin.com. Market capitalization has fallen below $ 1 trillion.
The BTC price chart shows prices between February 17th and February 23rd. Source: Markets.Bitcoin.com.
The finance minister went on to say:
I don’t think Bitcoin … is widely used as a transaction mechanism. As far as I’m afraid, it is widely used for illegal funding.
“It is an extremely inefficient way to conduct transactions and the energy consumption of processing those transactions is staggering,” she added.
Many bitcoins beat up Yellen’s comments on social media, accused the Treasury Secretary of failing to understand bitcoin, and advised her to do some research before making any statements on the matter.
“Sec Treasury Janet Yellen states, ‘Bitcoin is extremely inefficient,'” commented Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad. “Give me a break. Does she think it’s efficient to print trillions of counterfeit dollars? Doesn’t she know that the more counterfeit dollars she prints, the more efficient and valuable Bitcoin becomes? God bless her.”
In the same interview, Yellen also addressed the topic of digital currencies from the central bank. The Federal Reserve has announced that it is investigating the digital dollar that could be introduced in the next few years. Yellen said, “I think it could lead to faster, safer and cheaper payments, which I believe are important goals.”
The Treasury Secretary has spoken several times about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies since her Senate confirmation hearing in January. She has promised to work with other federal regulators to implement effective regulation of the cryptocurrency. She claimed that cryptocurrency abuse is a growing problem and last week stressed the importance of regulating institutions dealing with bitcoin to ensure they meet their regulatory responsibilities.
What do you think of Janet Yellen’s remarks on Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below.
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Bitcoin Inefficient, Bitcoin Price, Bitcoin Regulation, Bitcoin Speculation, Bitcoin Warning, BTC Price, Illegal Funding, Janet Yellen, Janet Yellen Bitcoin, Janet Yellen BTC, Janet Yellen Crypto, Janet Yellen Cryptocurrency
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