ECB Director for Market Infrastructure and Payments Ulrich Bindseil and ECB Advisor for Market Infrastructure and Payments Jürgen Schaaf believe that the approval of such exchange-traded funds misleads investors about the safety and advisability of investing in Bitcoin.
“For cryptocurrency supporters, the formal approval of the regulator serves as confirmation that investments in Bitcoin are safe, and the growth in the rate provides another reason for triumph. However, we still maintain that the fair value of Bitcoin is zero,” the Eurobankers announced.
Top managers of the ECB are confident that after the approval of the Bitcoin ETF, negative consequences will inevitably arise – after the rapid growth of Bitcoin, there will definitely be a recession, which will lead to large financial losses for traders and investors, not to mention damage to the environment. ECB representatives claim that Bitcoin has failed to achieve its main goals:
“Bitcoin has failed to fulfill its original purpose of becoming an international, decentralized digital currency.. Recent ETF approval does not change the fact that BTC is not suitable as a means of payment. It was a mistake to believe that Bitcoin would become a stable financial asset whose value would inevitably rise.”
Bitcoin transactions are still slow and costly. As Bindseil and Schaaf put it, most payments take place only on the dark web. Even the legalization of the first cryptocurrency in El Salvador could not make it a successful universally applicable means of payment.
In 2022, these ECB managers argued that Bitcoin was losing relevance. They were supported by ECB board member Fabio Panetta, who said that cryptocurrencies have gone from an innovative asset class to a harmful one and are only suitable for gambling.