ECB President Christine Lagarde insists that cryptocurrencies have no value
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde poured cold water on crypto, claiming that it means “nothing” in a recent interview.
He pointed to the fact that digital cryptocurrencies are fraught with speculation and risk.
Last year, Lagarde said that bitcoin was being used to conduct “reprehensible” money laundering activity. The French banker and politician has repeatedly emphasized stricter cryptocurrency regulations within the European Union and criticized bitcoin’s energy consumption.
During the interview, Lagarde defended the bank’s Digital Euro project, claiming it would be “significantly different” from private cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this month, ECB executive board member Fabio Panetta said that a digital euro could be launched within the next four years. He said central banks had to meet the growing demand for non-cash payments. Despite its prevalence, central banks are highly critical of crypto. As U.Today reports, Sweden’s Riksbank recently concluded that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were not money. Last year, Lagarde also conclusively concluded that cryptocurrencies were not real currencies.
So far, nine countries have launched their own central bank digital currencies (the majority of them are located in the Caribbean). Ninety-nine percent of countries around the world are working on their CBDCs.The cryptocurrency has been under severe pressure this May, with bitcoin recently falling to the $25,000 level for the first time since December 2020 due to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The major cryptocurrency is currently trading slightly below the $30,000 level.
The entire crypto market is currently at $1.26 trillion after peaking at $2.9 trillion in November.
