{"id":13326,"date":"2019-11-12T15:30:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T14:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/?p=13326"},"modified":"2020-04-28T11:19:52","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T10:19:52","slug":"bitcoin-is-not-real-and-any-purchase-amounts-to-speculation-says-ecbs-ex-chief-as-he-pours-cold-water-on-cryptocurrency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/bitcoin-is-not-real-and-any-purchase-amounts-to-speculation-says-ecbs-ex-chief-as-he-pours-cold-water-on-cryptocurrency\/","title":{"rendered":"Jean-Claude Trichet &#8211; Bitcoin is not real, and any purchase amounts to speculation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>10.11.2019 &#8211; South China Morning Post<\/p>\n<p>By Louise Moon<\/p>\n<ul class=\"generic-article__summary--ul content--ul\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<li class=\"generic-article__summary--li content--li\" data-v-da61000a=\"\">\u201cThe [crypto]currency itself is not real, with the characteristics that a currency must have,\u201d said the European Central Bank\u2019s former president Jean-Claude Trichet, at Caixin\u2019s conference in Beijing<\/li>\n<li class=\"generic-article__summary--li content--li\" data-v-da61000a=\"\">An alternative monetary tool to existing currencies is the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) by the International Monetary Fund, Trichet said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bitcoin_scmp.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bitcoin_scmp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bitcoin_scmp.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bitcoin_scmp-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bitcoin_scmp-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bitcoin_scmp-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stacks of computers used for mining bitcoin at the Bitfarms cryptocurrency farming facility in Farnham, Quebec, Canada, on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. Photo: Bloomberg<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-images main__main-images\" data-v-cae8fc5a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<div class=\"main-image--single\" data-v-d93b574e=\"\" data-v-cae8fc5a=\"\">\n<div class=\"image-slide\" data-v-d93b574e=\"\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper image-slide__img preview-img-item\" title=\"Stacks of computers used for mining bitcoin at the Bitfarms cryptocurrency farming facility in Farnham, Quebec, Canada, on Wednesday, January 24, 2018. Photo: Bloomberg\" data-v-34466395=\"\" data-v-d93b574e=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"main-image__title\" data-v-d93b574e=\"\"><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">The <strong>European Central Bank\u2019s former president Jean-Claude Trichet<\/strong> said he is doubtful that cryptocurrencies can ever become the future of money, becoming the latest monetary authority to pour cold water on the simmering technology that seeks to disrupt and disintermediate global central banks from their control of currencies.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"main__row row\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<div class=\"row__details details\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<div data-v-587061fd=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<div data-v-22ae94a0=\"\" data-v-587061fd=\"\">\n<div data-v-587061fd=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div class=\"details__body body\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\u201cI am strongly against bitcoin, and I think we are a little complacent,\u201d Trichet said during a panel discussion at Caixin\u2019s 10th annual conference on Sunday in Beijing. \u201cThe [crypto]currency itself is not real, with the characteristics that a currency must have.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">Buying a cryptocurrency is \u201cin many respects pure speculation,\u201d said Trichet, who led the ECB from 2003 to 2011, after a decade as governor of the Bank of France. \u201cEven if [the cryptocurrency] is supposed to be based on underlying assets, I am observing a lot of speculation. It is not healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">Trichet\u2019s comment echoes the concern shared by global central banks about the threat posed by cryptocurrencies, for their decentralisation of traditional currencies, disruption of the global financial system and hindrance to monetary authorities in controlling the value of money. The ECB\u2019s board member Benoit Soeure went as far in September as warning that cryptocurrencies could \u201cchallenge the supremacy of the US dollar,\u201d in a report on CNBC.<\/p>\n<p data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/jc_trichet_scmp.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13328\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/jc_trichet_scmp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"972\" height=\"703\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/jc_trichet_scmp.jpg 972w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/jc_trichet_scmp-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/jc_trichet_scmp-768x555.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">European Central Bank\u2019s former president Jean-Claude Trichet during a press conference in Frankfurt on April 7, 2011. Photo Agence-France Presse<\/p>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">At the summit, the 76-year-old French economist said he was also \u201cvery much against\u201d Libra, a cryptocurrency project proposed by Facebook in June. Originally announced alongside a list of corporate backers, the social media site has faced scrutiny over entering the financial services space causing firms like Visa, MasterCard and PayPal to pull support in October.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div class=\"main__row row\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<div class=\"row__details details\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<div class=\"\" data-v-587061fd=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\">\n<div data-v-22ae94a0=\"\" data-v-587061fd=\"\">\n<div data-v-587061fd=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div class=\"details__body body body--next\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--div content--div scmp-tech-end-text\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\">Cryptocurrencies are decentralised digital currencies, traded without a central bank or administrator. Transactions between users, without the traditional middle man, are recorded in a digital ledger of blockchain.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-da61000a=\"\">\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">China has taken a\u00a0<a class=\"link-text\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/economy\/article\/2111456\/why-has-china-declared-war-bitcoin-and-digital-currencies\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\">tough stance<\/span><\/a>\u00a0against cryptocurrencies. China\u2019s central bank and financial regulators in September 2017\u00a0<a class=\"link-text\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/banking-finance\/article\/2109735\/what-ico-and-why-chinas-central-bank-banning-it\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\">banned initial coin offerings (ICOs)<\/span><\/a>, in which companies could raise funds by issuing digital tokens, or coins. Local\u00a0<a class=\"link-text\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/banking-finance\/article\/2132009\/china-stamp-out-cryptocurrency-trading-completely-ban\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\">trading platforms were shut<\/span><\/a>, and access to all domestic and foreign platforms related to cryptocurrency trading and ICOs were blocked in February 2018, in attempts to quash the market.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">Chinese banks are barred from handling bitcoin or any cryptocurrency, although individuals are not barred from holding them. China hosts some of the world\u2019s largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency mines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\"><\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">Bitcoin is the world\u2019s first, and most popular cryptocurrency, founded in 2009 by an unknown developer known as \u2013 what\u2019s commonly thought to be a pseudonym \u2013 Satoshi Nakamoto. The value of bitcoin has swung from US$0.003 in March 2010 to a record US$20,000 at the end of 2017, before crashing the following year, now trading at around US$8,800 each.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">Nevertheless, some central banks like Sweden\u2019s Riksbank are embracing technology, seeking to create\u00a0<a class=\"link-text\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/banking-finance\/article\/3036543\/chinas-digital-currency-tsar-says-e-payment-platforms-may\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\">digital versions of their currencies\u00a0<\/span><\/a>to cater for the explosive growth of e-payment and cashless remittance platforms. The People\u2019s Bank of China is poised to\u00a0<a class=\"link-text\" style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/banking-finance\/article\/3023309\/chinas-proposed-digital-currency-will-help-banks-bridge\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-f8b97894=\"\">roll out a digital currency\u00a0<\/span><\/a>that can be used across major payment platforms like WeChat Pay and Alipay \u2013 not to be confused with a cryptocurrency \u2013 while the Bank of England\u2019s Mark Carney has also proposed a digital reserve currency.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">A monetary tool that Trichet prefers is the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose value is pegged to the US dollar, the euro, the pound sterling, the renminbi and the yen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\u201cI have great doubts of keeping control of monetary value in [the cryptocurrency] domain,\u201d said Trichet. \u201cIn the so-called new stable international currencies \u2026 the SDR would be the right basket.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">The world may be moving away from physical coins and notes, but that path may not be in the direction of cryptocurrency, Trichet said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\">\u201cWe are already in a domain which has much less physical currency,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether we are in a domain where that will be replaced with crypto? I have doubts there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-v-da61000a=\"\" data-v-294dc056=\"\" data-v-22ae94a0=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/banking-finance\/article\/3037099\/bitcoin-not-real-and-any-purchase-amounts-speculation-says\">Read the article on South China Morning Post<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10.11.2019 &#8211; South China Morning Post By Louise Moon \u201cThe [crypto]currency itself is not real, with the characteristics that a currency must have,\u201d said the European Central Bank\u2019s former president<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-13326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-room","tag-30"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}