Christine Lagarde news
ECB president reiterates calls for 'MiCA II' in response to FTX collapse
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, or ECB, has once again called regulation and supervision of crypto an “absolute necessity” for the EU in the wake of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. At a Nov. 28 hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Lagarde cited Facebook’s Libra as an example of the ECB’s involvement which was “helpful to stop some of the players” from engaging with crypto firms. However, she said the situation with FTX — involved with crypto assets as opposed to stablecoins — was more about the “stability and …
Regulation / Nov. 28, 2022
ECB head calls for separate framework to regulate crypto lending
A week after the major American crypto lending platform Celsius had to freeze the withdrawal option for its users, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde voiced her conviction on the necessity of tighter scrutiny over this part of the crypto market. During a testimony before the European Parliament on Monday, Lagarde expressed her thoughts not only about the looming inflation in Europe and around the globe but also about the increasing activities of crypto-asset staking and lending. In Lagarde’s opinion, this trend demands additional regulatory efforts from the European Union. Referring to the major regulatory package making its way …
Regulation / June 22, 2022
U.S. dollar index retreats from 20 year highs — But will DXY topping spark a Bitcoin recovery?
The United States dollar index (DXY) retreated broadly from its prevailing bull run in the past two weeks, dropping by up to 3.20% after hitting its two-decade high of 105. Overvaluation risks grip dollar market The U.S. dollar’s correction in the last two weeks preceded twelve months of relentless buying. To recap, the greenback’s weight against the basket of top foreign currencies grew by around 14.3% in a year, primarily as markets looked for safe havens against the fears of a hawkish Federal Reserve and, more recently, the military conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Cash balances among the global fund …
Bitcoin / May 26, 2022
ECB president calls for crypto regulation in response to Russia potentially evading sanctions
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has called on lawmakers to approve a regulatory framework on crypto, hinting at potentially preventing Russia from getting around economic sanctions. Speaking to reporters at an informal meeting of economics and finance ministers on Friday, Lagarde said the European Central Bank would be “decisively and rigorously” implementing sanctions on Russia imposed by European lawmakers in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. In response to a question on Russia potentially using crypto to evade some of these measures, the ECB president urged action on an existing proposal for a regulatory framework …
Regulation / Feb. 25, 2022
Stablecoins are assets — not currencies, says ECB president
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said all cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins and speculative assets, “are not currencies at all.” In a Sept. 1 interview with World Economic Forum founder and executive chair Klaus Schwab, Lagarde said cryptocurrencies “present themselves as currencies,” but she still considered them as assets to be regulated and “supervised by asset regulators.” Under this definition, the ECB president claimed fiat-pegged digital currencies were also considered assets. “Stablecoins are pretending to be a coin, but in fact it’s completely associated with an actual currency,” said Lagarde. “For instance, some of them are saying that …
Regulation / Sept. 2, 2021
European Central Bank releases results of digital euro consultation
The European Central Bank has published the results of a public consultation on a potential digital euro as the institution inches closer to deciding whether to formally study such an initiative. According to a Wednesday announcement, the ECB received more than 8,200 responses to its public digital euro consultation — a personal record for the bank regarding participation in a public consultation. Of the total responses, 47% came from Germany, with a significant amount also coming from Italy and France, accounting for 15% and 11% of total responses, respectively. The majority of respondents said that privacy was the most desired …
Technology / April 14, 2021
Digital euro could take four years, says ECB president Christine Lagarde
It could be a while before European Union gets a central bank digital currency, if it gets one at all. In a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Television, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde laid out the complex decision-making process with which the bank will determine the future of a digital euro. The ECB will soon release its analysis of eight thousand responses received from its digital euro consultation process. “That will be communicated to the European Parliament which is one of the key players as well as the Commission and the Council with which we operate,” she stated. Based on …
Adoption / March 31, 2021
ECB's Lagarde says central banks holding Bitcoin is 'out of the question'
The head of the European Central Bank (ECB) thinks that central banks worldwide will not be holding Bitcoin (BTC) any time soon. In a conference call with The Economist on Feb. 10, Christine Lagarde showed herself to be firmly risk-off when it came to decentralized cryptocurrencies. "Out of the question" "It's very unlikely — I would say it's out of the question," she responded when asked about central bank Bitcoin uptake. Lagarde has long derided Bitcoin, which has surged at a time when the ECB prints huge amounts of liquidity in an attempt to shore up its financial jurisdiction after …
Bitcoin / Feb. 11, 2021
ECB president Lagarde renews calls for global regulation of Bitcoin
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has repeated her insistence that global regulators need to tighten the rules to ensure Bitcoin (BTC) falls under more coordinated oversight. In an interview at the Reuters Next conference, amid an unprecedented bull market for the veteran cryptocurrency, Lagarde argued: “[Bitcoin] is a highly speculative asset, which has conducted some funny business and some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activity.” While Bitcoin is pseudonymous, rather than anonymous, its distributed nature and complex interaction with jurisdictional regulatory frameworks present a challenge for international authorities. During the interview, Lagarde did not reportedly refer to any …
Regulation / Jan. 13, 2021
ECB President: ‘We Better Be Ahead of Curve’ on Stablecoins
The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said that the financial institution should be ahead of the curve regarding the demand for stablecoins. According to a tweet by the ECB on Dec. 12, Lagarde said: “My personal conviction on the issue of stable coins is that we better be ahead of the curve. There is clearly demand out there that we have to respond to.” Stablecoins are digital currencies pegged to a physical asset or fiat currency and designed to minimize price volatility. Focus on prompt adaption to fintech innovations In early September, when Lagarde was still …
Altcoin / Dec. 12, 2019
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde: We Should Be Open to Cryptocurrencies
The nominee to be the next president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has said central banks and financial bodies should protect consumers but be open to innovations such as cryptocurrencies. Changes are opportunities Lagarde, who is currently head of the International Monetary Fund, told the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament that central banks and financial regulators should embrace the opportunities presented by change. In her opening statement, shared with Cointelegraph via an IMF news release, Lagarde said: ”In the case of new technologies – including digital currencies – that means being alert to …
Altcoin / Sept. 4, 2019
Central Bank Digital Currencies Could Have Legitimate ‘Role,’ Says IMF’s Lagarde
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the international community should “consider” endorsing central bank issued digital currencies (CBDCs) in a speech at the Singapore Fintech Festival Nov. 14. IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said that despite being “not entirely convinced” on the concept of cryptocurrencies more generally, there may be a case for states to issue government-backed tokens or similar assets. “I believe we should consider the possibility to issue digital currency. There may be a role for the state to supply money to the digital economy,” she told the event. The comments come a day …
Bitcoin / Nov. 14, 2018