Yellen: Bitcoin Can Be Extremely Volatile

The United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that Bitcoin is an inefficient way of conducting transactions, pointing once again to the dangers of speculative trading of the digital currency.

Remarks by Yellen came during an interview with CNBC and in line with her comments last week that the world’s largest cryptocurrency is a highly speculative asset.

“I don’t think that bitcoin … is widely used as a transaction mechanism.”

“To the extent it is used I fear it’s often for illicit finance. It’s an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions, and the amount of energy that’s consumed in processing those transactions is staggering.”

“It is a highly speculative asset and you know I think people should be aware it can be extremely volatile and I do worry about potential losses that investors can suffer.”

“I think it could result in faster, safer, and cheaper payments, which I think are important goals.”