From the reaction in the letters section to the op-ed by the head of research at the Bank for International Settlements Hyun Song Shin you might think there is some economic value in cryptos (“Look beyond the domain of exchanges for crypto’s real promise”, December 20).
One should be careful not to brainwash people that crypto has any value. As anyone knows, the intrinsic value of a crypto (bitcoin included) is zero. The value (if any) could come from the code behind: the so-called blockchain.
I can’t accept making people believe that a crypto is a store of value like gold. At least with gold one can produce attractive jewellery.
What I can agree though is that blockchain used by crypto issuers can be also used to create IT tools for other industries such as for notary (to record property transactions) or for digital pictures or songs (to support copyrights).
But please let’s not mix crypto and blockchain. Blockchain can be seen as a software to record transactions. Cryptos are scams to attract suckers and should be made illegal and banned from any financial systems.
Regarding “stable coins”, which are cryptos attached to some collaterals, they should comply with the same rules as those of a security and should therefore follow the same regulatory and reporting framework while being subject to regular external audits.
Blockchain on the other hand can continue its life on its own and be there to support industries like digital creation or notary acts.
Olivier Morelle
Frankfurt, Germany