In a recent blog post titled ‘Bitcoin’s Last Stand,’ officials from the Europe Central Bank (ECB) registered a strong stance against BTC.

They labeled BTC as “inappropriate,” saying it’s not fit as a means of payment and investment. Backing this position, the post cited the recent crisis in the cryptocurrency market due to the demise of FTX. 

The official further described BTC’s fall from its all-time high of $69,000 to its recent benchmark of $20,000 as an “artificially induced last gasp before irrelevance” and maintained that it would never recover from its recent decline.

The officials of the apex financial institution argued that the market valuation of Bitcoin is based solely on speculation. According to them, Bitcoin doesn’t offer cash flow like real-life assets.

Further, the blog post described the existing regulatory framework for cryptocurrency as a child of fallacy. In their argument, they said BTC isn’t worthy of regulation. 

“Since Bitcoin appears to be neither suitable as a payment system nor as a form of investment, it should be treated as neither in regulatory terms and thus should not be legitimized,” the officials stated. “Similarly, the financial industry should be wary of the long-term damage of promoting Bitcoin investments.”

Moreover, the ECB officials cited how the slow processing of BTC transactions made the token a questionable means of payment. Backing that point, they described BTC transactions as cumbersome, slow, and expensive.

On October 5, the European Council approved the comprehensive Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). 

For the cryptocurrency sphere, the development marks a significant milestone taken by the European authorities. The bill will ensure that the industry must work to protect investors and will stop the usage of crypto for illicit activities.

While the ECB still opposes the digital assets sector, the European Union has welcomed the need to regulate the industry. As a result, the industry appears to have gained a strong foothold within the EU.