Bitcoin News and Finance
Janet Yellen Warns Bitcoin Is ‘Extremely Inefficient’ and ‘Highly Speculative’ as BTC Price Plunges Skip to main content

Janet Yellen Warns Bitcoin Is ‘Extremely Inefficient’ and ‘Highly Speculative’ as BTC Price Plunges

Janet Yellen Warns Bitcoin Is 'Extremely Inefficient' and 'Highly Speculative' as BTC Price Plunges

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned about the dangers of bitcoin as the price of the cryptocurrency took a nosedive. She sees bitcoin as a highly speculative asset and is worried about potential losses investors can suffer. Yellen also believes that bitcoin is not widely used as a transaction mechanism due to its inefficiency, reiterating her view that the cryptocurrency is often used for “illicit finance.”

Janet Yellen’s Warning About Bitcoin

Janet Yellen has blasted bitcoin again Monday in an interview with CNBC at the New York Times Dealbook conference. The treasury secretary “issued a warning about the dangers that bitcoin poses both to investors and the public,” the news outlet conveyed.

Regarding bitcoin, Yellen was quoted as saying:

It is a highly speculative asset and you know I think people should be aware it can be extremely volatile and I do worry about potential losses that investors can suffer.

The price of bitcoin started falling sharply Sunday afternoon, dropping almost 18% from the high of above $58K to $47,827 at the time of writing, based on data from markets.Bitcoin.com. Its market capitalization has fallen below $1 trillion.

Janet Yellen Warns Bitcoin Is 'Extremely Inefficient' and 'Highly Speculative' — BTC Price Plunges
BTC’s price chart showing prices between Feb. 17 and Feb. 23. Source: markets.Bitcoin.com.

The treasury secretary further opined:

I don’t think that bitcoin … is widely used as a transaction mechanism. To the extent it is used, I fear, it’s often for illicit finance.

“It’s an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions, and the amount of energy that’s consumed in processing those transactions is staggering,” she added.

Many bitcoiners bashed Yellen’s remarks on social media, accusing the treasury secretary of not understanding bitcoin and advising her to do some research before making statements on the subject.

“Sec Treasury Janet Yellen states: ‘Bitcoin is extremely inefficient,'” Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki commented. “Give me a break. Does she think printing trillions of fake dollars is efficient? Does she not know the more fake dollars she prints the more efficient and valuable bitcoin becomes? God bless her.”

During the same interview, Yellen also touched on the subject of central bank digital currencies. The Federal Reserve has said that it is studying the digital dollar, which could roll out over the next several years. Yellen said: “I think it could result in faster, safer and cheaper payments, which I think are important goals.”

The treasury secretary has talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies several times since her Senate confirmation hearing in January. She has promised to work with other federal regulators to implement effective regulation for cryptocurrency. Claiming that the misuse of cryptocurrencies is a growing problem, she stressed last week the importance of regulating institutions that deal in bitcoin to make sure that they adhere to their regulatory responsibilities.

What do you think about Janet Yellen’s remarks about bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl
Post a Comment
Read more

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju
Post a Comment
Read more

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and
Post a Comment
Read more

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r
Post a Comment
Read more
Blogarama - Blog Directory