Cryptocurrencies 'Suspicious and Speculative', Says President of European Central Bank

Transactions in mostly decentralised cryptocurrencies have found themselves on the receiving end of criticism from European Central Bank's president.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 17 September 2021 14:39 IST

Cryptocurrencies 'Suspicious and Speculative', Says President of European Central Bank

There are over 350,000 Bitcoin transactions daily, report by research firm CompareCamp claims

Highlights

Christine Lagarde, the European Central Bank President is anti-crypto
Lagarde believes digital currencies are not as credible as real money
Russia and China are among several countries where crypto is banned

Christine Lagarde, the President of European Central Bank has termed cryptocurrencies as “highly speculative and suspicious” as she dismissed their credibility, according to reports. The top leader of the Frankfurt, Germany-based bank spoke against the up-and-coming digital currencies while revealing her thoughts on if cryptos would prove to be beneficial for the global economy in the future. Lagarde's views on cryptocurrencies resonate those of several other central banks in the world. She also noted that crypto transactions consume high amounts of energy, and also said that cyrptocurrencies are not real currencies.

The statement by Lagarde, as reported by TechStory on Friday, comes at a time crypto trading has begun to pick pace around the world. Statistics platform CompareCamp reported that there are over 350,000 Bitcoin transactions daily, with an average of 14,904 every hour, or four transactions per second.

Lately, criticism of cryptocurrencies has heated up from countries like Russia and China. Governments of many countries like China, Russia, Morocco, and Bolivia among others have expressed concerns over the international transfers of these untraceable cryptocurrencies for notorious purposes that could pose danger to national safety.

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Despite a recent report indicating growth in India, the future of cryptocurrencies remains uncertain in the country. Its government bill to the Parliament proposing a ban on digital currencies has been delayed. It was due in March 2021.

While over 150 countries including the UK, the US, India, and Canada allow crypto transactions and trading, Lagarde has slammed the companies that are pushing the adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrecny, Bitcoin, European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More