ECB Paper Slammed by Crypto Academics

A European Central Bank (ECB) paper published earlier this month, which stopped just short of labeling Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme, has faced strong backlash from a group of crypto academics. The paper criticized Bitcoin’s volatility, limited productive contribution, and wealth concentration, calling them significant flaws, according to Murray Rudd of the Bitcoin advocacy organization Satoshi Action Fund. In a detailed rebuttal released on Oct. 22, the academics critiqued the Oct. 12 ECB working paper authored by Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen Schaaf, which sparked outrage among cryptocurrency supporters. The rebuttal argued that “methodological weaknesses and personal or institutional biases” undermined the