The viral clip
The European Central Bank wants to accelerate the work on its own digital currency, to stay ahead of developments, says new ECB President Christine Lagarde.
On Tuesday she held a press conference and in this clip, which has gone viral in the crypto sphere, you can hear what she says about digital currencies including Bitcoin.
Lagarde emphasized that discussions around digital currencies have come a long way in several OECD countries, such as Canada, England, and France. Now she wants the ECB to take action so that the EU as a whole will be at the forefront of the development process. According to her, the ECB will decide by mid-2020 on some clear objectives, in terms of digital monetary policy.
Convinced
“My personal belief is that the demand out there is for good stablecoins, and not primarily bitcoin. Only a private stablecoin has been advertised, but we know it is being worked on by several others. We should speed up so that we can place the ECB at the forefront of development and not be granted other private initiatives.”
It has long been debated whether the ECB should issue its own digital currency, making it cheaper and more efficient for the public to make payments within and outside the borders. The challenge is that several EU finance ministers have been skeptical.
Earlier this month, the EU’s finance ministers gathered around a statement to work against private stablecoins, before a sensible regulatory framework was in place. Former ECB, President Jean-Claude Trichet, expressed his skepticism about cryptocurrencies at a press conference in Bejing earlier this fall. He said straight out “I am very opposed to Bitcoin and I think we have been naïve by letting this grow. Bitcoin is not real ”.