The US, the European Union and China need to investigate who is behind the manipulation of bitcoin’s price.
And since I happen to know Donald Trump and I also happen to know that the president reads my column regularly, that’s what I’m suggesting right now. No need to even make a phone call.
As I’ve said before, bitcoin is nothing more than a confidence game. It’s worth nothing if people suddenly lose their confidence in this fake digital currency. It’s backed by nothing. It’s the definition of a con.
That’s why people who are propping up bitcoin lose their minds whenever someone like me writes anything negative about it. That’s what happened on Tuesday.
Thanks, folks, for all the e-mails and tweets. Keep them coming!
I’ll keep them handy because I am sure that every one of these writers will be thrilled to defend bitcoin in front of investigators from the Securities & Exchange Commission, the Justice Department, the IRS, Homeland Security and any other agency that will eventually get in on the action.
Just so you know, I didn’t start this latest skirmish with the bitcoin, uh, let’s call them “enthusiasts.”
Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank started it when he said recently: “Cryptocurrencies or bitcoins, or anything like that, are not really currencies — they are assets. A euro is a euro — today, tomorrow, in a month — it’s always a euro. And the ECB is behind the euro. Who is behind the cryptocurrencies? So they are very, very risky assets.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said pretty much the same thing. “There are investor and consumer protection issues as well” with bitcoins, Powell told the House Financial Services Committee a year ago.
Powell also said cryptocurrencies are not real currencies because they have no intrinsic value.
I’ve said the same thing when a bitcoin was selling for $20,000. And still was saying it when it plunged to $4,000. Its real worth: $0.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett called bitcoin “rat poison squared.” And Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger said trading in cryptocurrencies is “just dementia.”
Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase, has called bitcoin a “fraud,” although he has since backed off that view. Dimon was probably getting pressure from his company’s traders, who figure they can make a quick score before bitcoin collapses.
But there are simple means for settling this: investigations. Do them now, before gullible investors take another hit like they did when bitcoin fell from $20,000.
An analyst named Tom Lee, of little-known Fundstrat Global Advisors, seems to be going to heroic lengths to promote bitcoin. He should be the first to be asked his opinion and how much of his own money is invested in the crypto market.