European Central Bank Chief: “Bitcoin Is Not Money,” Then Literally Adds: “As a Central Bank, We Can Print Money…”

The European Central Bank (ECB) is under a lot of heat from the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency community after they held an AskECB event on Twitter and said some controversial things. The ECB commentator behind the event was the ECB chief economist, Peter Praet.

As previously reported by IIB, during the #AskECB event a Twitter user asked the bank where they got the money for quantitative easing. Praet responded by saying that as a central bank, the ECB can simply create money out of thin air to buy assets.

For obvious reasons, this sparked an uproar in the crypto community and led to some questions on how the ECB feels about Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s #1 cryptocurrency which has a finite amount and is created and issued by math, not banks or people.

ECB Says “Bitcoin is not Money”

A Bitcoin enthusiast with the Twitter handle of RainDogDance took the AskECB opportunity to ask Praet what the ECB’s opinion of Bitcoin was. On behalf of the ECB, Praet replied by stating that Bitcoin is not money, but the technology behind it looks promising for many industries.

The tweet above, along with the ECB’s tweet stating that they can simply create money caused a collective uproar among crypto community members.

One response came from a Twitter user who posted a trending picture from Venezuela that shows the streets full of cash. Along with the picture he stated that central banks who have the power to print money and rob people with inflation should not control or issue our money.

Another disgruntled Twitter user proclaimed that while Bitcoin may not be money now, it can and probably will be over time, stating that nothing becomes globally accepted money overnight.

Do you think Bitcoin will replace the Euro and other fiat currencies as money in the near future? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.