ECB: “Bitcoin on the Road to Irrelevance”

• The ECB said that the latest consolidation in the Bitcoin price is the last gasp before the collapse.
• It added that Bitcoin failed to emerge as a means of payment as well as an investment vehicle and only ended up as a speculation tool.

While Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have come under significant selling pressure this year, the European Central Bank (ECB) took this opportunity to lash out with its criticism of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

In the latest blog post, the ECB said that Bitcoin has failed to live up to its hype and is on its last legs. The central bank said that Bitcoin’s recent price stabilization should not be confused with accumulations. Instead, it could be the last attempt to maintain the hype before BTC finally collapses.

The new blog post “Bitcoin’s Last Stand” was written by Ulrich Bindseil, Director General of Market Infrastructure and Payments at the European Central Bank, and his advisor Jürgen Schaaf. ECB staff wrote:

For bitcoin followers, the apparent stabilization signals a respite on the way to new heights. More likely, however, it is an artificially induced last gasp before the road to irrelevance. The apparent stabilization of Bitcoin’s value is likely to be an artificially induced last gasp before the crypto-asset embarks on a path to irrelevance.

Interestingly, the authors have lashed out at Bitcoin because it has not emerged as a means of payment as well as an investment vehicle. Bitcoin is just a tool for speculation, they say.

Bitcoin isn’t going anywhere

As we know, the central banking institutions share a greater enmity with Bitcoin since it challenges their control over a person’s money. Furthermore, as major economies around the world fail to build trust among the people and become fragile, Bitcoin gains an advantage.

As we know, top economies around the world have been working with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). The European Central Bank (ECB) is also working on the digital euro. Therefore, the criticism of Bitcoin at this stage is not unexpected.

However, to say that Bitcoin will be irrelevant is more of an exaggeration. In the past, there have been hundreds of such reports predicting the death of Bitcoin and crypto. However, the world’s largest crypto has sailed through all such challenges thrown at it.

Despite all the criticism, the Bitcoin network continues to grow stronger with new developments. The improvements with the Lightning Network have only improved the usability of Bitcoin.

On the other hand, institutional use of Bitcoin only continues to grow, as confirmed by Bloomberg Senior Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone. On the other hand, financial giants such as Fidelity Investments and JPMorgan are also working to offer Bitcoin trading and custody solutions to their clients. This clearly shows that the demand for Bitcoin is high among retailers as well as institutional players.