The Bitcoin-hating European Central Bank isn't doing much to stop scammers

The European Central Bank is too busy attacking Bitcoin to worry about the myriad of real scams perpetrated by con artists in the industry.

欧洲央行忙于攻击比特币，无暇顾及该行业骗子所犯下的无数真正的骗局。

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in jail. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak just won an appeal against YouTube and the use of his likeness in promoting cryptocurrency scams on the site. Crypto scammers (or the platforms they use) are increasingly getting caught and held accountable for their actions. Cryptocurrency is mainstream, meaning mainstream attention to coins, tokens, or platforms that seem “too good to be true” is met with widespread awareness that they are, indeed, too good to be true.

ftx 联合创始人 sam bankman-fried 被判入狱 25 年。苹果联合创始人 steve wozniak 刚刚赢得了对 youtube 的上诉，并被控在网站上使用他的肖像宣传加密货币骗局。加密货币骗子（或他们使用的平台）越来越多地被抓获并被追究责任。加密货币是主流，这意味着主流关注那些看起来“好得难以置信”的硬币、代币或平台，并让人们普遍意识到它们确实好得难以置信。

Unfortunately, as cryptocurrency regains popularity, more scams will appear. And one popular regulatory approach — criticizing Bitcoin (BTC) — is only serving to push more people into criminals clutches. I have personally been impersonated on social media due to my association with blockchain, and the criminals behind it attempted to swindle funds from my followers and friends. Despite filing police reports and injunctions, no progress has been made in catching them.

不幸的是，随着加密货币重新流行起来，更多的骗局将会出现。而一种流行的监管方式——批评比特币（btc）——只会让更多的人落入犯罪分子的魔爪。由于我与区块链的联系，我个人在社交媒体上被冒充，背后的犯罪分子试图从我的粉丝和朋友那里骗取资金。尽管我提交了警方报告和禁令，但在抓捕他们方面仍未取得任何进展。

There are plenty of problems in cryptocurrency that are well worth attacking. But from Europe to the United States, regulators fight the same straw “bogeyman” of Bitcoin. The European Central Bank‘s latest comments serve as an example: Bitcoin has failed on the promise to be a global decentralized digital currency and is still hardly used for legitimate transfer, ECB officials Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen Schaaf wrote in a post for the ECB’s blog.

加密货币中存在许多值得解决的问题。但从欧洲到美国，监管机构都在打击比特币这个“恶魔”。欧洲央行的最新评论就是一个例子：“比特币未能兑现成为全球去中心化数字货币的承诺，而且仍然很少用于合法转账，”欧洲央行官员 ulrich bindseil 和 jürgen schaaf 在欧洲央行博客上写道。

The remarks gave a platform to several thoroughly debunked myths about Bitcoin‘s “criminality.” There were plenty of missteps contained in Bindseil and Schaaf’s post, but six areas were especially offensive for their lack of context.

这些言论为彻底揭穿比特币“犯罪”的谣言提供了一个平台。bindseil 和 schaaf 的帖子中有很多错误之处，但有六个方面尤其令人反感，因为它们缺乏背景。

First, the pair claimed that the Security and Exchange Commission‘s approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs would not make investing in Bitcoin safe. No investment is indeed entirely safe. No listed asset on any European exchange is any safer than a spot Bitcoin ETF, but the legitimacy that comes with the institutional validation is borne from its regulation. The duo’s criticism lacked that context.

首先，两人声称，美国证券交易委员会批准比特币现货 etf 并不能确保比特币投资安全。事实上，没有哪项投资是完全安全的。欧洲交易所上市的资产中，没有一种比现货比特币 etf 更安全，但机构认可所带来的合法性源于其监管。两人的批评缺乏这样的背景。

European Central Bank (ECB): “ETF approval for Bitcoin the naked emperor's new clothes.”

欧洲中央银行（ecb）：“比特币etf的批准是赤裸裸的皇帝的新衣。”

Also the ECB, fully clothed:

欧洲央行也全副武装：pic.twitter.com/4rxisyxxwd

— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) February 22, 2024

- gabor gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) 2024 年 2 月 22 日

They also claimed that Bitcoin‘s fair value was “zero” because it didn’t fulfill its original promise as a global decentralized digital currency, and said it failed to meet the standard of a “productive asset.” This is akin to claiming gold has no fair value because it is no longer used in coins. Gold still has value, however. So does Bitcoin. While it isnt used for day-to-day purchases, its scarcity has made it a helpful inflation hedge against fiat currencies. Context of what makes an asset valuable is critical here, and it is missing.

他们还声称，比特币的公允价值为“零”，因为它没有履行其作为全球去中心化数字货币的最初承诺，并表示它未能达到“生产性资产”的标准。这类似于声称黄金没有公允价值，因为它不再以硬币形式使用。然而，黄金仍然有价值。比特币也是如此。虽然它不用于日常购买，但其稀缺性使其成为对抗法定货币的有用通胀对冲工具。资产价值的背景在这里至关重要，但这一背景却被忽略了。

The authors went on to complain about the supposed pollution created by Bitcoin mining without the appropriate context. (Namely: How much electricity is used by Bitcoin‘s alternative — Europe’s digital banking system？) Likewise, they neglected to mention that Bitcoin miners have significantly adjusted operations to renewable energy sources, while other blockchains have reduced energy consumption by nearly 100% by switching to proof of work (if they werent already carbon neutral — or negative).

作者继续抱怨比特币挖矿造成的污染，但没有给出适当的背景信息。（即：比特币的替代品——欧洲数字银行系统使用了多少电力？）同样，他们也没有提到比特币矿工已经大幅调整了运营，转而使用可再生能源，而其他区块链通过转向工作量证明，已经将能源消耗减少了近 100%（如果它们本来就不是碳中和的——或负碳的话）。

They also claimed that Bitcoin shouldn‘t be trusted because it is used for criminal activities such as money laundering and terrorism. That is sometimes true — we’ve already seen one British woman arrested this year for her role in laundering money for a criminal organization, in part using Bitcoin. However, She was caught because of Bitcoins transparency. Eight years ago, we even proved that you could assign an identity to thousands of Bitcoin addresses linked to illicit activities. This is much harder to do with cash, which remains the main and preferred means of payment for money laundering, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

他们还声称，比特币不值得信任，因为它被用于洗钱和恐怖主义等犯罪活动。有时确实如此——今年我们已经看到一名英国女性因使用比特币为犯罪组织洗钱而被捕。然而，她之所以被捕，是因为比特币的透明度。八年前，我们甚至证明，你可以为数千个与非法活动相关的比特币地址分配一个身份。根据美国财政部的数据，用现金来做到这一点要困难得多，因为现金仍然是洗钱的主要和首选支付手段。

Ironically, the two final and most misleading claims are about regulators' role in markets. They claimed that Bitcoin‘s price is subject to manipulation, and its market cap and price indicate a speculative bubble. Price manipulation is a recurring concern in many markets — the European Commission handed out fines totalling more than 1 billion euros to banks that manipulated the foreign exchange market between 2007 and 2013, and a new $3.5 billion lawsuit filed last year in the United Kingdom alleges the same foreign exchange price rigging. Nothing like this has ever been witnessed with Bitcoin. (Or, if it has, we’d welcome the ECB and other agencies to take action).

讽刺的是，最后两个也是最具误导性的指控是关于监管机构在市场中的作用。他们声称比特币的价格容易受到操纵，其市值和价格表明存在投机泡沫。价格操纵是许多市场反复出现的问题——欧盟委员会对 2007 年至 2013 年期间操纵外汇市场的银行处以总计超过 10 亿欧元的罚款，去年在英国提起的一项新的 35 亿美元诉讼指控同样的外汇价格操纵。比特币从未出现过这样的情况。（或者，如果有的话，我们欢迎欧洲央行和其他机构采取行动）。

Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller, known for his work on bubbles and market dynamics, argues that speculative bubbles do not just signify market irrationality but can also reflect a new technology. In other words, they are behaviors that reflect a market‘s attempt to price a novel asset class. Again, this historical and comparative context was missing in Bindseil and Schaaf’s remarks.

诺贝尔奖得主罗伯特·席勒以其在泡沫和市场动态方面的研究而闻名，他认为投机泡沫不仅意味着市场不理性，还可能反映出新技术。换句话说，它们是一种反映市场试图为一种新资产类别定价的行为。同样，宾塞尔和沙夫的言论中没有提到这一历史和比较背景。

Finally, they claimed that authorities have failed to regulate Bitcoin, leading to misconceptions and potential harm. To that, we point to the European Unions MiCA law and the numerous global sandboxes for cryptocurrency exploration. This simply is not true and takes us back to the first issue: The approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs is also a form of regulation.

最后，他们声称当局未能对比特币进行监管，导致误解和潜在危害。对此，我们指出了欧盟的 mica 法律和众多用于加密货币探索的全球沙盒。这根本不是事实，这让我们回到第一个问题：批准比特币现货 etf 也是一种监管形式。

Is it a coincidence that these remarks follow growing questions from European consumers about the U.S. Bitcoin ETFs？ Or the rising price of Bitcoin compared to other traditional assets and currencies？ No, it is not. Therefore, it stands to reason that any regulator choosing these outdated reasons without doing their own research plays a different strategy game.

这些言论是否是在欧洲消费者对美国比特币 etf 提出越来越多的质疑之后发表的？还是比特币相对于其他传统资产和货币的价格不断上涨？不，不是。因此，任何监管机构在不做自己的研究的情况下选择这些过时的理由都是在玩不同的策略游戏。

Regulators that choose to attack Bitcoin instead of the other valid targets are either intent on having continued ignorance of the sector (an especially large problem since the European Central Bank is designing the digital euro and should be mimicking the security and success of an asset like bitcoin); or it is an intentional choice to try to keep some consumers and businesses out of cryptocurrencies. Neither of these brings confidence in their technological abilities, but more importantly, neither approach gives their citizens what they need to be vigilant against scammers.

选择攻击比特币而不是其他有效目标的监管机构要么是有意继续忽视该行业（这是一个特别大的问题，因为欧洲央行正在设计数字欧元，应该模仿比特币等资产的安全性和成功）；要么是故意选择让一些消费者和企业远离加密货币。这两种做法都无法让人们对其技术能力产生信心，但更重要的是，这两种做法都无法让公民对诈骗者保持警惕。

Citizens (from consumers to business owners) need a balanced voice from their regulators that meets them where they are: Interested in exploring digital assets. A regulatory approach that emphasizes investment risk while recognising the attractiveness of the innovation of these systems is much more realistic. An approach that speaks to the potential, challenges and possible setbacks of these new assets, which gives consumers the wide view that they need to evaluate whether a YouTuber, social media advertisement, or even an offering from their brokerage is right for them.

公民（从消费者到企业主）需要监管机构发出平衡的声音，满足他们的实际需求：有兴趣探索数字资产。监管方法强调投资风险，同时承认这些系统创新的吸引力，这更为现实。这种方法可以说明这些新资产的潜力、挑战和可能的挫折，让消费者有广阔的视野，他们需要评估 youtuber、社交媒体广告，甚至经纪公司的产品是否适合他们。

Dismissing the entire sector through an attack on a valuable and resilient asset is like using Bitcoin as a hook to reel you into a video about a tokenomics-based Ponzi scheme — misleading.

通过攻击一种有价值且有弹性的资产来否定整个行业，就像使用比特币作为诱饵将你引入一个关于基于代币经济学的庞氏骗局的视频一样——具有误导性。

Dr. Paolo Tascais a guest author for Cointelegraph, a professor and an economist. He founded two blockchain organizations: The University College London Centre for Blockchain Technologies (UCL) and the Distributed Ledger Technology Science Foundation (DSF).He advises several organizations, including Ripple, INATBA, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), among others. He has also consulted and worked with the United Nations, the European Parliament, the FED Cleveland, the European Central Bank, the central banks of Italy, Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Canada, and Nexo.He previously served as the lead economist for digital currencies and P2P financial systems at the German Central Bank (Deutsche Bundesbank).

paolo tasca 博士是 cointelegraph 的客座作者，教授兼经济学家。他创立了两个区块链组织：伦敦大学学院区块链技术中心 (ucl) 和分布式账本技术科学基金会 (dsf)。他为多家组织提供咨询，包括 ripple、inatba 和国际标准化组织 (iso) 等。他还曾为联合国、欧洲议会、克利夫兰美联储、欧洲央行、意大利、智利、巴西、哥伦比亚和加拿大的中央银行以及 nexo 提供咨询和合作。他曾担任德国中央银行 (deutsche bundesbank) 数字货币和 p2p 金融系统的首席经济学家。

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

本文仅供一般参考，并非法律或投资建议，也不应被视为法律或投资建议。本文表达的观点、想法和意见仅代表作者本人，并不一定反映或代表 cointelegraph 的观点和意见。