Top Banker Calls Bitcoin a 'Ponzi Scheme'

Cryptocurrency sinks below $6K mark
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 6, 2018 7:17 AM CST
Bitcoin Sinks Below $6K Mark
Carstens says cryptocurrencies are "unsafe" instruments that are "pretending" to be currencies.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Bitcoin has been taking a beating in recent days along with more traditional investments. The cryptocurrency, which has been sliding downhill since peaking above $19,000 in December, dipped below $6,000 early Tuesday for the first time since October, though it later recovered to around $6,500, Bloomberg reports. Other cryptocurrencies have also fallen, wiping a total of more than $500 billion off their market value so far this year. And more sell-offs are expected, the Guardian reports. Agustin Carstens, chief of the Bank of International Settlements, which represents the world's central banks, warned in a lecture Tuesday that cryptocurrencies have become a combination of "a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster." He said there is a "strong case for policy intervention," because authorities have a "duty to educate and protect investors and consumers." (More bitcoin stories.)

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