Bitcoin prices have dropped below the $40,000 mark breaking the upward trend that was building up after prices crashed last week. The slowdown comes as Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda discredited bitcoins and said that they have no intrinsic value. In a statement to the press, Kuroda said: “Most of the trading is speculative and volatility is extraordinarily high.” He pointed out that Bitcoins are rarely used as a means of settlement.
AT the time of writing this article Bitcoin is exchanging ownership for about $36,700. The Central bank of Japan’s governor is not alone. Earlier in April, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made a similar remark. He too discredited the leading cryptocurrency and said that it is nothing but a “vehicle for speculation.” Joining forces with similar sentiments was European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos who demanded that Bitcoins and other similar decentralized tokens not be equated with real investments.
For Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies these criticisms are not new but coupled with some of the unexpected anti-crypto decisions such as China’s ban on crypto payments and bitcoin mining has taken a toll on the market valuation of these currencies. While it is not surprising that the mainstream financial institutions and their heads voice their dislikes for the decentralized altcoins, it is for the proponents of Bitcoins and blockchain-based tokens to explain how the extreme volatility can be addressed.
