At an international conference held by the Banque de France, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde expressed her concerns about cryptocurrencies. She mentioned two main points regarding crypto assets in general.
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Lagarde says that the evolution of the industry was stormy as she finds that the assets were grown from cultural hype pushed by libertarians and Satoshi Nakamoto suggesting total anonymity to be a tool that now is accepted by large payment companies such as Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. Calling cryptocurrencies "enigmatic coins," Lagarde also noted Terra LUNA, saying that its founder Do Kwon is on the run, and that the project "abused cryptocurrencies."
The second point by Lagarde is the search for yield existing in the crypto market. She said the economic challenges and limited interest earning opportunities accelerates the process of crypto investments, mentioning that in 2021 between 10 and 15% of Europeans and Americans have invested in crypto.
Lagarde noted that regulators now are attentive to developments to protect consumer rights. She believes Central Banks need to innovate and experiment as they are at the risk of losing their role.