Only buy cryptocurrencies if you’re ready to lose all your money, Bank of England governor says

Only buy cryptocurrencies if you’re ready to lose all your money, Bank of England governor says

Potential investors should only buy cryptocurrencies if they are prepared to lose all their money, the governor of the Bank of England has said in the wake of breakneck rallies in assets such as bitcoin, dogecoin and ether.

Andrew Bailey told journalists following the central bank's interest rate decision on Thursday he thinks cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin "have no intrinsic value."

He also said he does not believe they are truly currencies, saying: "Currency and crypto are two words that don't go together for me." Bailey said he preferred the term "crypto assets."

And he had a stark warning for would-be investors, saying: "Buy them only if you're prepared to lose all your money."

His comments came during an red-hot rally in dogecoin - a digital token created as a joke in 2013. It has seen the asset soar more than 20,000% over the last year, but has worried many investors who see it as a sign of bubble-like behaviour in markets.

Bitcoin has also soared in 2021, with retail traders and institutions piling in.

Analysts say the cryptocurrency boom has been fueled by governments and central banks pumping economies full of money, which has helped push up asset prices across the board.

But Bailey said he