Christine Lagarde slams crypto

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde has branded cryptocurrency as “suspicious”.

The French politician and lawyer says she regards digital assets as “highly speculative”, and pushed for widespread regulation.

Cryptocurrencies have seen massive growth over the past year with Bitcoin and Ethereum solidifying their position as the most valuable assets whereas smaller offerings like Dogecoin, Solana or Uniswap have gained huge followings.

However, according to Christine Lagarde, they “are not currencies”.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the banking figurehead has publicly denounced cryptocurrencies as “highly speculative” and “suspicious.”

Discussing the potential benefits for the global economy, Lagarde quickly dismissed their value.

“Cryptos are not currencies, full stop,” she snapped.

“Cryptos are highly speculative assets that claim their fame as currency, possibly, but they’re not. They are not.

“I think we have to distinguish between cryptos that are those highly speculative – suspicious, occasionally – and high intensity in terms of energy consumption assets, but they’re not a currency.”

The ECB chief then expressed less caution over stablecoins.

“On the other hand, you have those stablecoins that are beginning to proliferate, which some big techs are trying to promote and push along the way, which are a different animal and need to be regulated, where there has to be oversight that corresponds to the business that they’re actually conducting, irrespective of how they name themselves,” she said.