Bank of England governor Mark Carney responded to a question about bitcoin at Regent’s University in London in February, saying: “It has pretty much failed thus far on … the traditional aspects of money. It is not a store of value because it is all over the map. Nobody uses it as a medium of exchange.”
It was hardly his most controversial observation.
Sure, cryptocurrencies showed signs of stabilizing in mid-February, with bitcoin hovering once more around $10,000, roughly where it stood three months ago at the start of December.
But its vertiginous rise to $19,930 just before Christmas and subsequent 70% fall to $6,116 in early February has rather tarnished the brand.
“The Bank of England governor has joined the growing list of people who know what they are talking about stating the obvious: that things like bitcoin are not going to be currencies,” says Paul Donovan, global chief economist at UBS.
Last year’s dramatic price rises – bitcoin stood at $973 at the start of 2017 – might be the worst thing ever to happen to cryptocurrencies.
