U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen: Bitcoin is often used for illegal transactions and is a highly speculative asset

Source: admin Time: 2021-02-23

Tencent Securities reported on February 22 that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that she would judge the success of U.S. President Joe Biden's coronavirus stimulus plan based on how quickly it can restore the U.S. economy to pre-pandemic unemployment levels.
Yellen, speaking at a virtual conference, also downplayed concerns that Biden's $1.9 trillion U.S. recovery plan, currently being debated in Congress, would lead to higher debt levels. She said that because interest rates are so low, U.S. debt interest payments as a share of GDP are at 2007 levels.
She also said fiscal stimulus measures need to ensure that there are no permanent "scars" on the lives and livelihoods of the American people.
"The success of the stimulus plan will mean that the unemployment rate returns to pre-pandemic levels and employment in the service sector is restored," Yellen said. "US President Joe Biden's recovery plan is designed to alleviate the suffering that targeted aid cannot relieve."
Yellen also added: "A long-term sluggish and slow recovery will cause fiscal losses." As for whether the U.S. Treasury will issue long-term Treasury bonds, Yellen said: "For 100-year Treasury bonds, the market is likely to be very small, but the Treasury is turning to longer-term bonds."
In addition, Yellen reiterated that Bitcoin is often used for illegal transactions, and the cryptocurrency's attempt to become an effective form of payment has failed. Interestingly, when she made these remarks, the price of Bitcoin plummeted by more than $11,000 in one day, falling below $48,000 at one point.
According to CoinDesk data, as of press time, the price of Bitcoin fell 7.8% to $53,085.93. In the past 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin has reached a high of $58,332.36 and a low of $47,780.75. CoinDesk tracks prices from cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex.
Yellen commented on the bumpy road the United States must face in its economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 era and talked about the role of digital assets, saying that she believes digital assets can provide a "faster and cheaper" way of payment. However, digital assets in their current form raise "many questions" and must be studied before they can play a more important role. Yellen said that issues that need to be addressed include "consumer protection and money laundering."
She slammed Bitcoin, calling it "extremely inefficient to transact with" and a highly speculative asset, after asserting that the rise of the cryptocurrency industry increased the risk of loopholes in the system that criminals would exploit to carry out illegal actions.
But in a webcast on Monday, Yellen also hinted that the Fed might join other central banks in following the growing trend of central banks issuing digital currencies. The United States has been trying this idea for the past few years, but has been hesitant. (Nebula)