‘
It’s
not money’:
Bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin has ‘
no role’
in the Australian economy,
says Bullock
‘It’s not money’: Bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin has ‘no role’ in the Australian economy, says
Bullock
By Shane Wright and Millie Muroi
November 14, 2024 — 3.36pm
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Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has poured cold water on cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта,
saying it has no role in the Australian economy or payments system even as
bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin rallies to new highs on the back of Donald Trump’s victory in the US• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Доллар США
presidential election.
Speaking at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) annual
forum on Thursday, Bullock pushed back at suggestions that bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin, which is
fetching nearly $140,000 a coin, was an “alternative currency”.
RBA governor Michele Bullock has said she sees no role for cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта in
the Australian economy. Credit: Louise Kennerley
“Don’t call it an alternative currency,” she said. “It’s not a currency, it’s
not money, it’s being used as some sort of asset class.”
Despite the hype around cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта, Bullock – who previously headed up the
bank’s payments arm – said she didn’t see a role for it in the economy.
“I don’t understand it,” she said. “But, you know, I don’t really see a role
for it in, certainly in the Australian economy or payments system.”
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Trump has promised to make the United States• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) the “crypto capital of the
planet” with tech supporters such as Elon Musk strongly backing the move.
A proposed law was introduced into the US• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Доллар США Senate earlier this year to create a
“strategic bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin reserve” to cut America’s soaring official debt, which has
surpassed $US36 trillion, by buying 1 million bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin over the next 5 years.
Trump told a bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin conference in July that he would create the strategic
reserve.
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ASIC chair Joe Longo dismissed the recent rally in bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin and other crypto
assets, saying it was an example of “the bigger fool theory”: the idea that
people can make money on overvalued assets if those assets can later be resold
at an even higher price to a bigger “fool”.
He said the strategic reserve made little sense for a country whose currency
was used around the world.
“If I was the controller of the world’s reserve currency, and I could print as
much of it as I wanted, and I had a budget deficit ... I’m not sure why I
would want a strategic reserve of any currency, let alone one I didn’t control
or understand,” he said at the forum.
Bullock also cautioned against reading too much into the results of the US• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Доллар США
election, during which Trump promised to impose tariffs of between 10 and 20
per cent on all imported goods and up to 60 per cent of Chinese-manufactured
products.
“We don’t actually know what will happen,” she said. “We don’t actually know
what he will implement and what the administration will implement. We can’t be
jumping at shadows.”
The RBA’s most recent research into the nation’s payment system, released late
last year, confirmed cryptocurrencies• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта are not often used for traditional
payments.
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Just 2 per cent of people surveyed had made a payment with a cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта in
the past year, although 11 per cent said they held some form of
cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта.
Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that the
unemployment rate steady at 4.1 per cent in October as the economy continued
to add more jobs – though by the smallest amount since March.
The country added 15,900 jobs last month, while the number of unemployed
people rose by 8000. NSW lost 19,000 jobs and Victoria lost 700, while
Queensland added 38,000 jobs.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said while the labour market was softening around the
edges with more modest employment growth last month, it remained resilient.
“Wages are growing, inflation is falling and more than a million jobs have
been created under the Albanese government which is a record for a
parliamentary term,” he said.
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The unemployment rate remained about 0.6 percentage points above its recent
historical low of 3.5 per cent in June 2023.
KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said increases in labour supply, both from
migration and additional Australians entering the workforce, were being
consistently absorbed by businesses and government.
“The relative buoyancy of Australia• Австралия’s labour market has provided a steadiness
both to wages growth and the unemployment rate,” he said. “This steadiness in
the labour market has also been a factor in the RBA’s decision-making process
to keep the cash rate on hold now for the past 12 months.”
Rynne said with inflation declining, and the Australian labour market expected
to weaken in the near term, the RBA would likely cut the cash rate from early
next year.
But NAB• Объект бренды » Бренды на n » nab economists, who in late September said they believed the RBA would
start cutting rates in February, on Thursday revealed the resilience of the
jobs market now meant the bank was unlikely to loosen monetary policy until
May.
“The labour market has been stronger than expected and the RBA remains
concerned about upside risks to inflation should gradual labour market cooling
stall and capacity growth remain sluggish,” they said.
“There is a real risk that policy rates stay on hold even deeper into 2025.”
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