The latest Bitcoin detractor in the town is Amundi chief investment officer Pascal Blanque, according to whom cryptocurrencies are a “farce.”

Blanque described cryptos as a “farce” at a news conference where he said they were also a symptom of the bubbles forming in markets.

“Bitcoin will be remembered for pushing central banks to adopt digital money,” he said, adding that governments and regulators will ultimately “stop the music.”

According to him, it was rather more important for investors to increase their exposure to China’s fiat currency, renminbi, than diversifying into cryptocurrencies.

The same day, ex-SEC internet enforcement chief warned that Bitcoin and crypto investors are empowering online hackers.

“Ransomware is hitting everywhere, and they’re all collecting it in bitcoin because there’s no way they’re going to get caught. So you’re also enabling it,” said John Reed Stark, the founder of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s internet enforcement officer who now heads an eponymous cybersecurity consultancy.

Likening crypto trading to speculation, Stark said they have no practical use. And while the mania around GameStop and AMC isn’t necessarily hurting anyone, “with crypto, you are really hurting a lot of people, and that sort of risk I don’t think is a good one for society,” he added.

Stark called crypto the “essence of ransomware.”

“The country is kind of falling apart from ransomware all because of crypto, and the main reason people own crypto is because they think someone else will buy it and make the price higher,” he said. “There’s no other reason to invest in it.”

345 +