By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Cryptocurrencies are just a fad that can probably be ignored. That’s the view of the Danish central bank governor Lars Rohde.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Rohde was asked whether the increase in trading in cryptocurrencies is something central banks should take seriously or whether they can largely ignore it.
“I could be tempted to ignore it,” Rohde said. “I think the term ‘currency’ is badly used here. Most currencies are stores of value or means of transactions.”
“It is a very speculative asset at best.”
The comments from Rohde echo that of other central bankers recently. In a testimony in front of the Treasury Select Committee this week, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey called cryptocurrencies “dangerous”.
Previously, Bailey has warned investors that they should only invest in cryptocurrencies if they are prepared to lose all their money.
However, despite the negative view from central banks and prominent economists such as Nouriel Roubini, other giants of the financial world have shown an interest in cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
Most recently, activist investor Carl Icahn said he would be interested in getting into crypto in a “big way”, although he said himself, he does not own any yet.
Icahn rebuffed arguments that cryptocurrencies have no underlying value.
“Well, what’s the value of a dollar? The only value of the dollar is because you can use it to pay taxes,” Icahn argued. “I’m looking at the whole business, and how I might get involved in it.”
The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has stabilised in recent days after the volatility seen in the last week. Bitcoin trades just below the psychological $40,000 level and the 200DMA around $40,700.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, trades around $2,800, well below the all-time high hit earlier this month above $4,300.