https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2022/html/ecb.sp220425~6436006db0.en.html
True, true, true and true:
Crypto-asset transfers can take hours to process. Their prices fluctuate wildly.[2] The supposedly anonymous transactions leave an immutable trail that can be traced.[3] A large majority of crypto holders rely on intermediaries, contrary to the avowed philosophy of decentralised finance. In El Salvador, for instance, which is the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, payments are carried out via a conventional centrally managed wallet.
Crypto-assets are bringing about instability and insecurity – the exact opposite of what they promised. They are creating a new Wild West.
Indeed, the crypto market is now larger than the sub-prime mortgage market was when – worth USD 1.3 trillion – it triggered the global financial crisis.[5] And it shows strikingly similar dynamics. In the absence of adequate controls, crypto-assets are driving speculation by promising fast and high returns and exploiting regulatory loopholes that leave investors without protection. Limited understanding of risks, fear of missing out and intense lobbying of legislators drive up exposures while slowing down regulation.
So crypto-assets are speculative assets that can cause major damage to society. At present they derive their value mainly from greed, they rely on the greed of others and the hope that the scheme continues unhindered. Until this house of cards collapses, leaving people buried under their losses.
etc.etc.etc.
True, true, true and true:
Crypto-asset transfers can take hours to process. Their prices fluctuate wildly.[2] The supposedly anonymous transactions leave an immutable trail that can be traced.[3] A large majority of crypto holders rely on intermediaries, contrary to the avowed philosophy of decentralised finance. In El Salvador, for instance, which is the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, payments are carried out via a conventional centrally managed wallet.
Crypto-assets are bringing about instability and insecurity – the exact opposite of what they promised. They are creating a new Wild West.
Indeed, the crypto market is now larger than the sub-prime mortgage market was when – worth USD 1.3 trillion – it triggered the global financial crisis.[5] And it shows strikingly similar dynamics. In the absence of adequate controls, crypto-assets are driving speculation by promising fast and high returns and exploiting regulatory loopholes that leave investors without protection. Limited understanding of risks, fear of missing out and intense lobbying of legislators drive up exposures while slowing down regulation.
So crypto-assets are speculative assets that can cause major damage to society. At present they derive their value mainly from greed, they rely on the greed of others and the hope that the scheme continues unhindered. Until this house of cards collapses, leaving people buried under their losses.
etc.etc.etc.
