France’s Market Regulator Calls Bitcoin a ‘Dangerous Illusion’
- If it’s a currency, it’s a ‘very bad one,’ Ophele says
- Exceeds $11,000 as U.S. exchanges to start futures trading
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The chairman of France’s market regulator denounced bitcoin as a “dangerous illusion” and a tool for criminals, siding firmly against the cryptocurrency as its value climbed further past $11,000.
“It’s a way to purchase illicit goods, it’s a way to launder illicit income, it’s a way to develop and pay for cybercrimes and it’s a pure empty commodity,” Robert Ophele, chairman of the Autorite des Marches Financiers, said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Tokyo Monday. “If it were a currency, it would be a very bad one.”