BoE’s Bailey: latest crypto turmoil reinforces concerns

LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin’s slump on Monday after major U.S. crypto lending company Celsius Network froze withdrawals should remind investors that most crypto-assets have no intrinsic value, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said.

“If you want to invest in these assets, okay, but be prepared to lose all your money,” Bailey told the British parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

“People may still want to buy them because they have extrinsic value … people value things for personal reasons. But they don’t have intrinsic value. This morning we have seen another blow-up in a crypto exchange.”

Bailey has long expressed his doubts about crypto-assets, and was speaking in response to a question about how regulators’ duty to protect consumers could clash with the government’s wish for them to promote financial-sector innovation and competition.

The Celsius move triggered a slide across cryptocurrencies, with their value dropping below $1 trillion on Monday for the first time since January 2021, dragged down by a 12% fall in the largest token bitcoin.

(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Alistair Smout)