European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde is pushing for a crackdown on cryptocurrencies that could rival the forthcoming digital Euro.
Speaking at an event in Frankfurt, the senior official argued that privately owned “stablecoins” pegged to the real Euro represented an economic threat to the European Union, and that regulations surrounding their use need to be significantly tightened.
Stablecoins, like the central bank digital currency Lagarde is looking to release in 2029, are designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged to another asset, often a fiat currency.
https://x.com/ecb/status/2052644951427805440
However, unlike central bank digital currencies — which are centrally controlled by governments or institutions like the ECB — stablecoins are controlled by private entities that sometimes reside outside the jurisdiction of regulators.
Lagarde argued that the fact that such stablecoins can be managed outside the EU, in part or in full, warrants further regulatory control.
“European legislation should ensure that such schemes cannot operate in the EU unless supported by robust equivalence regimes in other jurisdictions and safeguards relating to the transfer of assets between the EU and non-EU entities,” she said, adding that more “international cooperation” was needed to control the asset class.
The statement comes amid continued concerns regarding the safety and transparency of the forthcoming digital Euro, with lawmakers and activists expressing concern the technology could be used for government social control.
“With CBDCs, governments would be able to exercise near total control on the flow of money,” Tom Vandendriessche, a member of one of the European Parliamentary committees regulating the rollout of the digital euro, said last year.
The Flemish parliamentarian went on to warn that the technology in Europe was ultimately “all about control”.
“We are already seeing a rising trend where bank accounts of political activists are being shut down,” he said.