In a virtual interview with The Economic Club of New York, Federal Reserve (The Fed) chairman Jerome Powell said cryptocurrencies are generally the focus as a bet against rising prices and have yet to reach status as a payment mechanism.
"Cryptocurrencies are really driven by speculation. It is not actively used as payment. ” Powell rolled his eyes.
The figure also compares the digital asset to gold.
"For thousands of years, humans have placed gold with a special value that it does not have as an industrial metal."
The comments caught the attention of the crypto sector during the same day of Coinbase’s listing on the Nasdaq. Coinbase shares reportedly opened at $ 381 a unit, higher than its reference price, $ 250.
Earlier, Fed secretary Janet Yellen had revealed her views on Bitcoin (BTC) as a highly speculative asset and described its use in transactions as inefficient.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $ 63,186, slightly down 0.73%. While Ethereum (ETH) posted a price of $ 2,461 with a jump of more than 5% in 24 hours.
