The European Central Bank (ECB) is not ignoring bitcoin and other digital currencies, a Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, said recently.
In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, Benoît Cœuré said:
“We aren’t ignoring them [cryptocurrencies]. At the moment crypto-currencies don’t pose any monetary risk because the amounts involved are marginal. They are speculative financial instruments which create risks of a financial or even criminal nature. The central banks are following their development very closely because they can spread very rapidly, especially in countries which are moving away from banknotes and coins.”
Earlier in July, in a letter to the members of the European Parliament, ECB president Mario Draghi said that while the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has grown considerably, “there is no evidence to suggest that the connection of VCS [virtual currency schemes] to the real economy has strengthened significantly."
More recently, Draghi said that cryptocurrencies are not mature enough to be considered for regulation, CNBC reported.
“Right now we think that especially as far as bitcoins and cryptocurrencies are concerned, we don't think the technology is mature for our consideration," he said.
