Ireland’s central bank says digital euro is not a matter of ‘when and how’
The head of Ireland’s leading monetary authority has compared buying cryptocurrency to stamp collecting, while praising the potential of the digital euro.
Ireland’s central bank governor, Gabriel Makhlouf, said that although the eurozone has not yet made a decision on the central bank’s digital currency, the development is “very likely.”
“In my opinion, the question is not if but how and when,” the governor wrote in a banking blog on Thursday.
Makhlouf indicated that the introduction of the digital euro would represent a “fundamental change” in the financial structure of the eurozone.
The wallets were less kind to cryptocurrencies, which he said came with “unnecessary and misleading descriptions” because they did not meet the coin’s definitions.
Makhlouf wrote that some cryptocurrencies do not have an anchor to provide stability, but “on the other hand, the evidence is that some people like to collect, just like others like to collect other things (like stamps, for example). The items are profitable, but it can also lead to a loss.”
Makhlouf also targeted stablecoins, saying that indexed cryptocurrencies are “only as good as the governance behind the promise of support.”
The governor, who took office in September 2019, is a British citizen. He was previously a secretary and managing director of the New Zealand Treasury, according to his LinkedIn page.
In March, the Central Bank of Ireland warned that companies operating in the republic must comply with anti-money laundering rules. He also warned about cryptocurrency risks to investors in May.
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