“The apparent stabilisation of bitcoin’s value is likely to be an artificially induced last gasp before the crypto-asset embarks on a road to irrelevance. #TheECBblog looks at where bitcoin stands amid widespread volatility in the crypto markets.”

Bitcoin’s Last Stand…

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2022/html/ecb.blog221130~5301eecd19.en.html

The Lowlights…

• Bitcoin's conceptual design and technological shortcomings make it questionable as a means of payment: real Bitcoin transactions are cumbersome, slow and expensive.
• Bitcoin has never been used to any significant extent for legal real-world transactions.
• The market valuation of Bitcoin is therefore based purely on speculation.
• Regulation can be misunderstood as approval
• The entire Bitcoin system generates as much e-waste as the entire Netherlands. This inefficiency of the system is not a flaw but a feature. It is one of the peculiarities to guarantee the integrity of the completely decentralised system.
• Since Bitcoin appears to be neither suitable as a payment system nor as a form of investment, it should be treated as neither in regulatory terms and thus should not be legitimised.
• the financial industry should be wary of the long-term damage of promoting Bitcoin investments. Despite short-term profits…the negative impact on customer relations and the reputational damage to the entire industry could be enormous once Bitcoin investors will have made further losses.