ABIB Alleges Factual Errors and One-Sided Framing in ABC's Bitcoin Reporting
The Australian Bitcoin Industry Body (ABIB) has filed a formal complaint with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) concerning what it describes as factual errors and a one-sided presentation in a recent ABC News report on cryptocurrency.
ABIB contends that the ABC report misrepresented Bitcoin's purpose, conflated it with criminal activity, omitted long-standing, publicly available information, and relied on sensational language rather than evidence.
According to ABIB, ABC failed to acknowledge well-documented global and local use cases for Bitcoin, such as energy grid stabilization and humanitarian remittances, as well as merchant adoption and its role in sovereign reserves. This omission, ABIB argues, reduced the coverage to outdated and misleading tropes focused on price volatility and US politics.
ABC's Portrayal of Bitcoin as a High-Risk Punt
The contested article, published by ABC on December 1, analyzed Bitcoin's recent price volatility and questioned its utility. ABC, described as the nation's largest media organization with television, radio, and digital news services, featured the piece.
In the article, chief business correspondent Ian Verrender stated that Bitcoin, conceived nearly 18 years ago by Satoshi Nakamoto or an entity operating under that name, has "never realised any of its stated goals and has no useful purpose." He further claimed it has not replaced the global financial system and is "rarely used in ordinary, legitimate transactions."
The report characterized Bitcoin as increasingly volatile and no longer a reliable store of wealth. The article also suggested that even those involved in "nefarious dealings" might be moving away from it.
Furthermore, the ABC piece asserted that Bitcoin will not challenge the US dollar's global dominance and no longer even purports to replace it. Instead, it was described as behaving less like digital gold and more like a "high-risk, high-volatile punt," with the situation expected to worsen.
ABIB stated that this coverage violates ABC's own Editorial Policies and Code of Conduct by disregarding well-documented global and local use cases, including energy grid stabilization, humanitarian remittances, merchant adoption, and sovereign reserves.
The industry body also noted that it is frequently contacted by members of the public frustrated by recurring misrepresentations of Bitcoin in Australian media. Consequently, ABIB is calling for ABC to issue corrections, uphold its editorial obligations, and engage subject-matter experts in future reporting.
ABIB emphasized, "The public deserves better. Bitcoin deserves informed, responsible coverage, not dismissal through outdated narratives."
In recent market activity, Bitcoin has seen a 6% increase over the past week, though it remains 14% down over the last month. The coin is currently trading at $92,338.
Critique of Tether as a Tool for Criminal Activity
The ABC article also addressed Tether, describing it as a stablecoin that operates differently from most others in the crypto space. Unlike Bitcoin, which has a publicly available ledger, Tether was presented as offering users an avenue to "fly under the radar." The report claimed that Tether now dominates cross-border trading from Istanbul to Beijing and Rio de Janeiro, facilitating the laundering of profits and the concealment of transfers.
The article cited research from firm Chainalysis, which indicated that approximately $41 billion of crypto linked to illegal activities was exchanged globally as stablecoins in the last calendar year. It also referenced an investigation by The Economist titled, "How Tether became money launderers’ dream currency."
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed that at least $1.4 billion in USDT tokens passed through a crypto wallet linked to the Cambodia-based Huione Group. This group was previously flagged by US authorities for laundering billions tied to North Korean hackers, human trafficking, and scam operations.