Bank of England governor issues crypto investment warning

England's central bank warns crypto investors to be wary of the risks associated with buying cryptocurrencies.

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, has cautioned crypto investors of the dangers of participating in the market.

Speaking during a conference on Thursday, Bailey balked at the notion of"cryptocurrencies," stating that"crypto assets" was a more suitable nomenclature for describing digital currencies.

The BoE governor espoused well-worn anti-crypto rhetoric, especially the argument that cryptocurrencies lacked intrinsic value. "I'd only emphasize what I have said a number of times in recent years, [and] I'm afraid they don't have any intrinsic value," Bailey added.

Delivering his stark warning to crypto investors,'' Bailey said:

"I'm sorry, I'm going to say this quite bluntly again: Purchase them only if you're prepared to eliminate all of your money."
The BoE governor's comments bear a close similarity to statements issued by the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority. As mentioned previously by Cointelegraph, the FCA warned the British people of the chance of incurring huge losses from crypto investments back in January.

At the time, the crypto market was in the throes of a significant correction since Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below $33,000. Since that time, the total crypto market capitalization has grown nearly three-fold and is currently above $2.3 trillion.

Bailey's remarks are arriving amid a massive spike in crypto prices, particularly for altcoins, with Ether (ETH) establishing a fresh all-time high. Important altcoins such as Polkadot's DOT, Chainlink's LINK and XRP have also seen vertical price activities.

The BoE governor touched on the present mania despite the apparent lack of intrinsic worth, including:"Now that doesn't mean to say people do not put value on them, because they've extrinsic value."

Really, Dogecoin (DOGE), arguably the quintessential"meme coin," is up more than 12,700% year-to-date.

While the BoE governor might not think a lot of the value proposition of crypto, the nation's tax authority isn't failing the possibility of valuable digital currencies being used to evade taxes.