Bank of England governor-designate: 'If you want to buy bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money'

Andrew Bailey, who is set to lead the Bank of England, has issued yet another warning to would-be bitcoin investors: "Be prepared to lose all your money."

Bailey previously stated his unfavorable opinions about bitcoin in Dec. 2017 during an interview with BBC's Newsnight. Buying bitcoin is similar to gambling, he contended, because "[bitcoin] is not a currency" and is "a very volatile commodity in terms of its pricing."

Bailey was the deputy governor of the Bank of England from April 2013 to July 2016. He was recently appointed as the Bank's governor and will begin his term on March 16, 2020.

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"If you want to invest in bitcoin be prepared to lose your money – that would be my serious warning," he told BBC at the time.

In a Wednesday speech in front of the U.K. Parliament, Bailey reiterated his previous position.

"There’s no guarantee of the value of bitcoin," he said, according to a video clip published on Twitter. "I've said publicly because we were concerned about it – if you want to buy bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money. If you want to buy it, fine, but understand that what you've got has no intrinsic value. It might have extrinsic value, but no intrinsic value."

"[Bitcoin] hasn’t caught on much," he added.

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Yilun joined The Block in November 2019. She has a policy background and extensive experience in reporting and writing. She has worked on stories ranging from business to politics.