During a Q&A session through its official Twitter account last week, the European Central Bank (ECB) educated the public on how it performs its open market activities. Specifically, the bank addressed Quantitative Easing and frankly stated that it has the ability to print new money into existence to pump liquidity into the banking system.

One Twitter user would ask the ECB, "Where did you get the money for the QE?", to which the bank responded:

Praet: As a central bank, we can create money to buy assets #AskECB https://t.co/zTQuU4y1ch

— European Central Bank (@ecb) March 12, 2019

Now, it is no secret (not anymore at least) that central banks are in the business of manipulating the money supply in order to benefit their own industry, but the fact that the ECB is so willing to admit that it is a manipulator of money shows that not only is public awareness of their operations rising but pressure from outside, competitive industry, such as cryptocurrency, is forcing the central banks out into the open with their business.

In fact, the way the ECB addressed Bitcoin in the Q&A may be that exact signal that we needed to show that the central bankers are under pressure and see need to discredit cryptocurrency as it is developing into the money printers biggest competitor.

"What is your/ECB's opinion on bitcoin?", another Twitter user would ask the ECB, garnering this response:

Praet: The technology behind it looks promising for many industries. But bitcoin is not money #AskECB https://t.co/rsNGOXAKI2

— European Central Bank (@ecb) March 12, 2019

This response highlights the hubris of central banking institutions who have long held a monopoly over the supply of national currencies. It also shows how the ECB is willing to force its own definition of money down the throats of the public who are compulsed to transact with the debt instruments they print.

And just to highlight how much the public is buying the forced definition of money by the ECB and how supportive they are of how it operates, we can take a glimpse at some of the responses to the central bank's tweets:

https://twitter.com/FatihSK87/status/1105944085125386240

But the thing is, it really is money if millions of people believe it is... common narrative doesn't care what a central bank or government declares as money. You don't have the monopoly anymore.

— Felipe (@PhilCrypto77) March 13, 2019

https://twitter.com/bitdov/status/1105907280300654593

the real value of paper-fiat money... pic.twitter.com/hLyWWJDfBg

— spiroseliot (@spiroseliot) March 13, 2019

Scammy fractional reserve banking fiat money is doomed to fail, that's why we long bitcoin and short the bankers.

— PBJ (@PalleBrandt) March 13, 2019

Correction; you print new currency, not money. Correction: you dilute currency by printing new currency. Answer: you tax people to pay for inefficient state operations. Eli5: you take payday loans in our children's names, requiring a constant increase in gdp to pay for it all.

— Henry Wotton (@HenryWotton19) March 13, 2019

It is hard to find a positive response to the ECB's tweets covered above. From these reactions, it is clear that there are a lot of people who have decided that they have more faith in a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin over a fiat currency issued by a central bank.

Central Banks Hate Competition

To further highlight the disdain central banks have for competition in the realm of issuing money, look no further than to the general manager of the Bank of International Settlements, Agustín Carstens, reaction to the awareness and interest Bitcoin has spread about banking and money.

When asked, "Don't you think it's a positive side effect that Bitcoin has got many young people thinking about money, money creation and the financial system?", Carstens responded: "My message to young people: stop trying to create money."

"Glance back into the past and you will see that creating gold or money from nothing has been a regular obsession. It never worked. Even the great physicist Isaac Newton was at one point in his life obsessed by alchemy and the idea of making gold. He was very successful in a number of fields, but in this one he failed. Newton ended up as head of the British Mint. Why? Because he could detect at once if a coin was counterfeit. After he failed in his attempt to make gold, he switched sides and sent counterfeiters to prison. So my message to young people would be: Stop trying to create money!"

In other words, stop trying to compete with your banking overlords ...

As Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption continues spread expect to see more smear campaigns by those institutions who have too long held grips over the issuance of money.