Crypto Assets: Waller Cautions Investors Against Risky Speculation

• Christopher Waller, the Federal Reserve board governor, recently expressed his concerns about crypto assets.
• He said that most digital currencies are “speculative” and only have value from what others believe in them.
• Waller also encourages crypto exchanges and related businesses to be forceful about KYC protocols to ensure they are running legitimate financial services.

Christopher Waller’s Disdain for Crypto

Federal Reserve board governor Christopher Waller recently made it clear in an interview that he is not a fan of the digital currency space nor does he think crypto assets have any real value to them. He called most digital currencies speculative and comparable to baseball cards, and argued that the only value they have stems from the belief of others.

Waller’s Concerns

Waller warns investors not to be surprised if their crypto asset prices go to zero at some point, and stated that he is supportive of prudent innovation in the financial system while being concerned about banks engaging in activities with heightened risk of fraud and scams, legal uncertainties, and inaccurate or misleading disclosures. He also noted that one major issue bringing down the industry is lack of regulation in the arena.

Buffett & Munger’s Similar Opinions

It appears as though Waller is taking a page from Warren Buffett’s playbook – head of real estate giant Berkshire Hathaway – who has made it known over the years that he doesn’t think much of bitcoin or its digital counterparts alongside his business partner Charlie Munger who hate them with a passion. In fact, Buffett has gone so far as to call bitcoin „rat poison squared“ in past interviews.

Crypto Volatility & Price Crashes

The volatility and price crashes traders have witnessed throughout this last year no doubt has earned its fair share of haters within the crypto space – BTC falling from its November 2021 all-time high of about $68,000 per unit ultimately ended 2020 at around $30,000 per unit – which further shows why there may be reason for concern when it comes to investing in cryptocurrency assets.

Encouraging Legitimate Enterprises

Waller encourages crypto exchanges and related businesses to be forceful about KYC (know your customer) protocols so they are able get all information necessary on their customers to ensure they are who they say they are; otherwise these enterprises could potentially be running shady or criminal enterprises unknowingly due to limited interconnections between the crypto ecosystem and banking system records.