Australian regulators slam bitcoin’s surge, dubbing it speculative

InvestorDaily

Speaking at the ASIC Annual Forum, the regulator’s chair, Joe Longo, cut through the hype with a blunt “who cares” about bitcoin’s price jump. Asked to comment on bitcoin’s performance since the US election, Longo called it a classic case of the “bigger fool theory”. The chair also criticised bitcoin’s environmental impact, pointing out: “The environmental impact to create that stuff … [is comparable to] the whole power of small European countries.”

Joining Longo on a panel, Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock described bitcoin’s rise as simply “more buyers than sellers”. Bullock went further, challenging its very definition: “It’s not a currency, it’s not money, it’s being used as some sort of asset class. I don’t understand it,” she said, adding, “I don’t really see a role for it certainly in the Australian economy or the payments system.”

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