The Australian Bitcoin Industry Body (ABIB), a crypto trade group, says it has filed a proper complaint in opposition to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, to appropriate a latest article contained a number of misrepresentations and factual errors about Bitcoin.
In its complaint, ABIB claimed that the article painted Bitcoin (BTC) as unstable, a instrument for criminals, and ignored the advantages of Bitcoin for power grids and humanitarian functions.
“The article misrepresented Bitcoin’s purpose, conflated it with criminal activity, omitted long-standing publicly available information, and relied on sensational language rather than evidence to inform readers,” ABIB alleges.
“It ignored well-documented global and local use cases… [and] effectively reduced its coverage to outdated & misleading tropes, and narratives on price swings and US politics.”
The ABIB said on X that the “one-sided framing” breached the broadcaster’s editorial insurance policies and code of conduct. Its complaint outlines which sections of the article it desires corrected and which editorial coverage has been breached. Under its code of observe, the ABC has 60 days to answer the complaint.
The ABC is the nation’s nationwide public broadcaster, funded by the Australian federal authorities, and administered by a government-appointed board of administrators. Its month-to-month readership was estimated to be over 12 million in October, according to the digital viewers‑measurement system, Ipsos Iris.
ABC instructed Cointelegraph it was not conscious of the complaint right now.
In the occasion the broadcaster doesn’t reply, or the ABIB is dissatisfied with the treatment, the matter might be escalated to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which has the choice to open an investigation, and if a breach is discovered, take enforcement actions, resembling a warning, infringement discover or make a licensing resolution.
Only 0.14% of onchain txs are felony
The ABC article, printed on Tuesday, portrayed Bitcoin as a helpful instrument for criminals, regardless of fiat foreign money nonetheless being extra ceaselessly used for illicit actions.
“While Bitcoin remains on the radar as a useful tool for those operating in the shadows — including crime gangs dealing drugs or weapons and shady governments needing to shift reserves — this role has been usurped by stablecoins, particularly one known as Tether,” the article acknowledged.
A January report from blockchain information platform Chainalysis proves this mistaken. It found that simply 0.14% of complete onchain transaction quantity was related to doable felony exercise in 2024. Compared to fiat, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the worldwide felony proceeds make up a mean of three.6% of world home product.
Bitcoin seen as a retailer of wealth
Other claims in the ABC article are that Bitcoin has by no means achieved any of its acknowledged targets and has no sensible goal; it’s not often used in authentic transactions and is not thought-about a dependable retailer of wealth.
However, institutional adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has been accelerating over the past two years by funding autos like exchange-traded funds and digital asset treasuries.
BitBo estimates publicly traded and personal firms, ETFs and international locations maintain over 3.7 million Bitcoin, price over $341 billion.
At the identical time, banks and funding managers, even those who were once skeptical, have begun to make gradual advances in the house.
On Monday, Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset supervisor, announced that it would start allowing its clients to commerce crypto ETFs on its platform, reversing its earlier stance.
Crypto misinformation is an issue in MSM, says lobby
Market intelligence agency Perception released a July report on mainstream media coverage on crypto in Q2, and located that 31% of the articles printed by the 18 shops it noticed for the examine had been constructive, 41% had been impartial, and 28% had been damaging.
Related: Bitcoin hits new highs, gains stability and scale in its institutional era — Will it last?
ABIB stated members of the general public ceaselessly contact it about misrepresentation of Bitcoin in Australian media, notably from publicly funded establishments.
“Bitcoin deserves informed, responsible coverage, not dismissal through outdated narratives,” the trade physique stated.
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