In response to recent remarks by the European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde on Bitcoin, the chief economist of the investment firm Tressis said what Lagarde implied was “outrageous” and “dangerous” for cryptocurrency regulation.
The economist says governments would like to implement strict crypto regulations
Daniel Lacalle, fund manager and chief economist at Tressis Gestion, commented on the latest remarks by Christine Lagarde on the regulation of Bitcoin and crypto in an interview with NTD Business on Sunday. Tressis Gestion provides investment management, financial planning, investment strategy and advisory services to clients in Spain.
“Obviously, Ms. Lagarde does not have the authority to enforce laws related to cryptocurrencies,” he began. However, the economist admitted that the ECB President is “an important voice in Europe and a very important voice in the financial world. So your comments can be heard. “
Lacalle believes that “numerous governments would very, very much like to enforce strict regulations on cryptocurrencies,” notes that this is “largely because, as we are seeing, cryptocurrencies are rising dramatically in response to very aggressive central bank policies “. He added that “the European Central Bank is probably pursuing the most aggressive monetary policy of all,” emphasizing that “its balance sheet is already 61% of euro area GDP, while the Fed’s, for example, is around 34%.
Central banks don’t like competition in creating money, and cryptocurrencies are obviously competition and a consequence of this aggressive monetary policy.
Lagarde’s remarks on Bitcoin are “extremely dangerous” and “outrageous”.
When asked how regulations would affect crypto investors, Lacalle stressed that “regulation is not bad for promoting transparency” and improving retail investor access to crypto assets. For regulations that improve the “level of transparency, liquidity and availability of an asset,” he said, “that’s fine.”
However, the economist warned, “I think the problem is, when you are talking about regulation here, that it is more about intervention or prohibition, about a total ban. For example, the ban on the possibility of using financial measures to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies, as we have seen in some economies. I think this is a dangerous way to go. “The fund manager exclaimed:
I think it is extremely dangerous for the president of a central bank to imply that almost all investors in cryptocurrencies are trying in some way to hide money laundering activities.
“It is absolutely outrageous when we all know that the vast majority of money laundering around the world is done in fiat currencies, especially US dollars and euros,” he said.
Lagarde also said that Bitcoin is “a highly speculative asset that has done some fun business and some interesting and utterly reprehensible money laundering activity.”
Lacalle replied to the comments of the ECB chief: “You never hear the president of a central bank or the governor of a central bank say that this is reprehensible and condemns an entire currency, be it the US dollar, the yuan, the yen, the euro whatever, because a small fraction of the users of that currency may use it for money laundering purposes. “In addition, he claimed:
You can’t just make the equivalent of money laundering and bitcoin or money laundering and cryptocurrencies being one and the same. I find that very negative and definitely not right.
The economist suggested that “central banks should view cryptocurrencies in response to their activities”, noting that their actions “are absolutely incredible in terms of money supply growth and the impact on financial assets.” In conclusion, he suggested:
Central banks should be extremely concerned about the sovereign bond bubble and not what cryptocurrencies are doing.
Do you agree with Lacalle? Let us know in the comments below.
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Bitcoin, Bitcoin regulation, BTC, central banks, Christine Lagarde, crypto regulation, cryptocurrency regulation, ECB, Ecb-Bitcoin, Lagarde-Bitcoin, money laundering
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