25/05/21

UK: Bank of England governor calls cryptocurrencies ‘dangerous’.

As published on fstech.co.uk, Tuesday 25 May, 2021.

Cryptocurrencies and similar digital assets are a danger to the public, according to the Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey.

"I'm sceptical about crypto-assets, frankly, because they're dangerous and there's a huge enthusiasm out there," the governor told the British parliament’s Treasury select committee on Monday.

It’s not the first time Bailey has expressed his scepticism about digital assets.

In January he said that the cryptocurrencies do not have a structure that is likely to work as a payment alternative over the long term.

At an event hosted by the World Economic Forum, he also brought up the issue of privacy, saying that it is an underestimated challenge of creating a digital currency.

However, earlier this month, two key execs at the Bank of England publicly spoke about the possibility of a state-run digital currency.

This week the governor also revealed that banking regulations would be assessed following the winding down of Wyelands Bank, which is currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

Bailey told the select committee that there could be lessons learned around buyout rules.
“We will go back and look at the lessons,” he said. “There have been some changes to the rules around acquisitions in recent years, but it is something we will go back to.”

He also said that while the bank had pushed Wyelands to reduce activities over the past 12 months, a further probe could unearth practices that need more investigation.