Bitcoin is a speculative asset that has conducted some funny business – ECB boss Christine Lagarde
2 min readTL;DR Breakdown
- Head of European Central Bank thinks Bitcoin is encouraging money laundering.
- Investor Mike Novogratz says banks are the most notorious facilitators of money laundering.
As Bitcoin price generates more buzz each day, some top-level people like Christine Lagarde are yet to accept the fact that the top coin is here to stay. Christine, who is the current President of the ECB (European Central Bank), doesn’t seem to like BTC one bit.
The case against Bitcoin
During a talk with Reuters, Christine said Bitcoin is an asset that’s highly prone to speculation and one that has been used in conducting a variety of illegal activities, referencing accusations that cryptos are used by criminals in conducting illegal businesses and running money laundering rackets.
Christine went on to opine that because of its highly speculative nature, it’s difficult for the cryptocurrency to become an actual currency. She cited the recent price upheavals in the BTC market. According to her, Bitcoin needs to be regulated at a global level.
Banks are notorious for money laundering
In a move largely seen as striking back at Lagarde’s negative remarks, investor Mike Novogratz shared a tweet, noting that a lot of banks have been caught red-handed facilitating money laundering and have been fined billions of dollars. Mike Novogratz is the CEO of Galaxy Capital, an investment firm.
His assertion cements the notion that the traditional (government-associated) global establishment feels threatened by the rise of Bitcoin. As a matter of fact, various governments have already either banned cryptos or passed strict regulatory policies to keep the trade under their thumbs.
Mike wants proper evidence against BTC
Mike went a step further to demand for strong evidence of Bitcoin being used for large scale money laundering like it happens with banks. It appears that such kind of evidence won’t be forthcoming. On the other hand, he pegs the total amount of money that banks have paid in fines for laundering-related offences at around $100 billion over the last 10 years.
