The Bank of Poland Orchestrates a Smear Campaign Against Cryptocurrency

Central banks around the world see cryptocurrency as a dangerous monster since it takes massive parts of the world’s financial flow outside of their reach. Therefore, Central banks in China, South Korea, and a few other countries have called for action to be taken against the growing cryptographic markets. The purchase of cryptocurrency is typically made by using fiat currency, at the expense of the local currency. These trades consist of exchanging real money for a binary code. In a response to a question asked by a member of the Wykpo party, the Bank of Poland has admitted to lobbying against cryptocurrency.

I Lost All My Money?!?

It was in hopes of “preventing the dangers of cryptocurrencies” that a video was made on December 8th, 2017 and published on the Youtube channel of one of Poland’s most famous influencers. The name Marcin Dubiel, a Youtubber with just over 900,000 followers, was specifically requested by the Bank of Poland. It was only after the video’s release that, in a letter dated February 9th,2018, the Bank admitted to financing “certain activities with the aim of preventing the dangers presented by digital currencies.” Other than requesting Dubiel’s services, the Bank also launched a website dedicated to the same cause. The name of the site is “uwazajnakryptowaluty.pl”, which roughly translates to “Be careful with cryptocurrency.” In the letter, the Bank admitted to dolling out 91,221 PLN (22,000 Euros) for the campaign. The letter also outlined exactly where the money went and confirms that the bank financed advertising campaigns on several social media networks such as Facebook and Google. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7GZeyXAFzo&t=2s

A Warning is Not Advertising

With their campaign, the Central Bank was operating in somewhat of a grey area since they did not mention in their advertisements that they were sponsored. Many internet users have also pointed out that Youtube’s Terms and Conditions clearly indicates that one must inform viewers of the commercial or sponsored nature of a video. Therefore, under the guise of being a warning, the Bank has tried to prevent the use of an activity that it has deemed harmful to public interest. In the video, they clearly wanted to show that only fiat currency should be used for the purchase of goods and services. In one scene, taking place in a restaurant, the video shows a man trying to pay for his meal with cryptocurrency, creating discomfort, which causes his friend to pay for his bill with paper money. The last scene shows an investor counting his bank notes, the same fortune that was lost by Dubiel.