The president of the European Central Bank says that cryptocurrencies are ‘worthless’ and ‘founded on nothing’.
Christine Lagarde said on Dutch television that her son had invested in cryptocurrency, without success.
“My extremely modest opinion is that cryptocurrency is worthless. It is founded on nothing, and there are no underlying assets to serve as a safety anchor,” she told College Tour.
“I have always stated that these types of assets are highly speculative and extremely risky.
“[Those who do not comprehend the risks] will lose everything.”
Lagarde says the bloc’s planned central bank digital currency (CBDC) is different and will be backed by the bank.
The implementation of the ‘digital euro’ is expected to commence in 2023.
“The day when we have the central bank digital currency – any digital euro – I’ll guarantee it,” Lagarde said. “So the central bank will be behind it.
“I think that’s vastly different from any of those things.”