Bitcoin Holders Should Be Prepared to Lose All Their Money: Bank of England Governor

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey reiterated his views that cryptocurrencies "have no intrinsic value" and their holders should "be prepared to lose all [their] money."

At a press conference on Thursday, Bailey was quoted saying, “they have no intrinsic value. That doesn’t mean to say people don’t put value on them, because they can have extrinsic value. But they have no intrinsic value.”

Bailey is no stranger to Bitcoin criticism, as he has been repeating nearly the same statement since December 2017, before he became Governor of the UK's central bank.

At the time, he said, "if you want to invest in bitcoin be prepared to lose your money — that would be my serious warning."

In March 2020, Bailey reemphasized his position that Bitcoin "hasn't caught on much," alongside familiar comments on its lack of intrinsic value and the possibility for investors to lose all their money.

Bailey's latest comments on the matter came in response to the question whether the Bank of England was worried about the recent volatility in the digital currency space.

The central bank governor further reportedly said about cryptocurrencies, "I’m going to say this very bluntly again; buy them only if you’re prepared to lose all your money. I'm afraid currency and crypto are two words that don't go together for me."

The Bank of England itself announced the launch of a Taskforce to research the opportunities and risks associated with a central bank digital currency last month; it has not yet decided if there will be a digital pound, and what it would look like.

At press time, Bitcoin is trading at $58,300, up 555% from when Bailey made his comments in March last year.