[2019-07-07] New ECB Boss Christine Lagarde Made A Serious Bitcoin Warning

[NeuroticFish]

A new article from Forbes is implying that ECB policy may change and may favor Bitcoin. Could that happen really, or is it just speculation and wishful thinking?

Earlier this year, Christine Lagarde, who has just been nominated to replace Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), warned that cryptocurrencies are "shaking the system"—something that could signal a change in the ECB's approach to bitcoin and crypto and potentially spur adoption.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/07/07/new-ecb-boss-christine-lagarde-made-a-serious-bitcoin-warning/#564d21402ed9

[Krikke]

A new article from Forbes is implying that ECB policy may change and may favor Bitcoin. Could that happen really, or is it just speculation and wishful thinking?

Earlier this year, Christine Lagarde, who has just been nominated to replace Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), warned that cryptocurrencies are "shaking the system"—something that could signal a change in the ECB's approach to bitcoin and crypto and potentially spur adoption.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/07/07/new-ecb-boss-christine-lagarde-made-a-serious-bitcoin-warning/#564d21402ed9

Very interesting indeed, it is off course unsure if she favors uncentralized of centralized cryptocurrency options.
In any case this seems positive news for BTC adoption!

There is also some news on this on newsbtc.com:

https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/07/07/new-european-central-bank-boss-is-extremely-pro-crypto-what-could-this-mean-for-bitcoin/

[BitHodler]

I first have to see it to believe it. Most people here tend to jump on the hype train without actually thinking about the incentives of the traditional system behind the scenes. I'm pretty sure they will try to firmly regulate it.

The best we could get out if this is regulatory clarity, which will help businesses and startups to know where the line is they shouldn't cross, where it's very much a grey area today.

I even think that governments like these grey areas because it allows them to selectively attack certain players without a valid reason. We'll see where it goes, but don't expect things to become pro Bitcoin.

[davis196]

Another FUD talk coming from the central bankers.Bitcoin and altcoins aren't a threat to the global financial system,because they are too small,in terms of global adoption and trading volume.The central bankers are trying to export the problems of the fiat banking system outside of their field,blaming the crypto world for everything that is wrong with the global finances.

[Schirer]

A new article from Forbes is implying that ECB policy may change and may favor Bitcoin. Could that happen really, or is it just speculation and wishful thinking?

How did you manage to interpret this small piece of article as potentially good for bitcoin? This is mystery.
There are no solid comments to understand on the matter, even more it seems more negative than positive.

[Lucius]

"Not bitcoin, of course, but she has advocated already for state-backed cryptocurrencies as well as settlement tokens like XRP and JPM coin. We can expect that someone so crypto friendly in such a position will be good for the industry as a whole."

Maybe she have slightly more positive opinion than her predecessors, but it is far from change of opinion towards bitcoin. As we can see she like some centralized coins, which are exactly the opposite of what the bitcoin represents. So we can say that she would be "good for the industry" in general, but we should not forget from which world she comes.

International Monetary Fund where she was director is not some good organization, but only the extended arm of the banking system who want to retain financial power in their hands. I am not sure that bitcoin can fit into their plans, so I would not have some great hopes in the ECB or Lagarde.

[NeuroticFish]

but we should not forget from which world she comes.

Indeed, this is a very good point.

But somehow I doubt that she can "be nice" towards those "trade mark" coins and "kill" Bitcoin; Bitcoin is after all the coin.
Even a proper Europe-wide strategy towards Bitcoin could be beneficial, since Germany, one of the powerful EU economies, recognize it as a properly trade-able currency (but again, it may be just wishful thinking).

[Kemarit]

I was under the impression that Lagarde stance was somewhat in the gray area as far as crypto in concern. She has been writing about crypto, giving it's negative and positive effect at the same time. So for now, we can take her word with a grain of salt here. If you wanted to get straight from Lagarde herself, and not from any websites or article who will just spun anything just for click-bait, I suggest you bookmark her official IMF blog here: (https://blogs.imf.org/bloggers/christine-lagarde/).

[Lucius]

but we should not forget from which world she comes.

Indeed, this is a very good point.

But somehow I doubt that she can "be nice" towards those "trade mark" coins and "kill" Bitcoin; Bitcoin is after all the coin.
Even a proper Europe-wide strategy towards Bitcoin could be beneficial, since Germany, one of the powerful EU economies, recognize it as a properly trade-able currency (but again, it may be just wishful thinking).

Banks and Bitocin can hardly find a common language, these are two different worlds, which is on the one side fully centralized, and other which tends to be completely decentralized. Since world is turn around money, and who control money is control world - bitcoin is just not fit in that picture for most of world countries.

It is true that Germany is make very good laws and regulation regarding cryptocurrency, some of them as "no tax after one year of crypto holding" is dream for any crypto user. But other EU members do not follow Germany on that, most countries think about cryptocurrency as something passable which will with time disappear or become quite harmless for monetary system.

How EU is united about some questions we can see every day, so I do not expect that we should see other countries say that bitcoin is good in general, but they will only work on how to get more tax from people who are involved with crypto.

Only positive about Lagarde is that she know something about cryptocurrency, but in what way she will use that knowledge it remains to be seen.

[gentlemand]

I didn't read anything pro or anti bitcoin there.

It's the reaction to Libra that's the telling one. That's something that could instantly slot in to hundreds of millions of lives with little friction. That caused near universal panic from this class of person.

[Schirer]

It is true that Germany is make very good laws and regulation regarding cryptocurrency, some of them as "no tax after one year of crypto holding" is dream for any crypto user. But other EU members do not follow Germany on that, most countries think about cryptocurrency as something passable which will with time disappear or become quite harmless for monetary system.

How EU is united about some questions we can see every day, so I do not expect that we should see other countries say that bitcoin is good in general, but they will only work on how to get more tax from people who are involved with crypto.

Only positive about Lagarde is that she know something about cryptocurrency, but in what way she will use that knowledge it remains to be seen.

Is this German crypto law already passed?
If yes, this is very interesting why should they look at cryptos differently as other assets.

I remember that last year we had a lot of news about EU having good understanding of cryptos and recognizing their potential. It look as always, the laws are coming very slowly.

[1Referee]

Only positive about Lagarde is that she know something about cryptocurrency, but in what way she will use that knowledge it remains to be seen.

That's a good point. People thinking ignorant politicians are a problem, but those who understand how powerful Bitcoin actually is might become a problem too.

Bitcoin has been relatively small, and still is today, but the moment it's going past a trillion dollar in market cap it will be taken more serious than ever before. It wouldn't even surprise me if central banks will allocate a fraction of their resources to Bitcoin because there is no way around it anymore, and it allows them to keep the value within their country, which is a problem with Gold because it's being stored all over the world.

[LeGaulois]

Only positive about Lagarde is that she know something about cryptocurrency, but in what way she will use that knowledge it remains to be seen.

  She was the woman believing that Europe could control all crypto currencies transactions, maybe she knows something but not a lot.
She was also the woman patronizing EU with severe KYC regulations for everything cryptos
We know this woman very well here and not really for doing good things, difficult and too long to explain but we should rather be careful with Lagarde

[Leyss]

Such a statement by the President of the European Central Bank practically complements the findings of the recently concluded G20 summit in Japan, which states that the cryptocurrency does not pose a threat to global financial stability and that it can contribute to the growth of the global economy. Practically all the institutions of governance of the European Union also positively evaluate cryptocurrency. This creates good prerequisites for the further development of cryptocurrency.

[Kakmakr]

There seems to be a total mind shift after the latest G20 summit, because governments realize the benefits of having a "private" currency that can also be totally manipulated and tracked. They like this, because it is not that easy to do this with cash transactions and the creation of Crypto currencies are much easier than fiat <cash>. 

You will soon see a clear distinction being made between "GovCoins" / "PrivateCoins" / "PublicCoins" and specific regulations being targeted at each of these categories. Public coins like Bitcoin will only be allowed, if transactions are done within a regulated 3rd party service. <Mark my words> 

[Lucius]

Is this German crypto law already passed?
If yes, this is very interesting why should they look at cryptos differently as other assets.

Yes, it is active for some time and because of this Germany is often called "Bitcoin Tax Haven", but it is not only about bitcoin, but also for some altcoins (Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum). I read that Denmark and Slovenia also have very positive laws regarding crypto, but I am not sure how accurate it is. You can read more about Germany here.

That's a good point. People thinking ignorant politicians are a problem, but those who understand how powerful Bitcoin actually is might become a problem too.

I would say those who know or understand bitcoin are much bigger problem if they have a bad intention. They would know how to damage bitcoin or in general all cryptocurrency, just by hit hard crypto exchanges or to introduce some crazy laws which are difficult or impossible to comply with it.

I think ECB will not do such things, especially because Germany is very positive toward cryptocurrency and we all know who is unofficial boss of EU. I think the main reason why this issue is not solved on EU level is too many other problems which currently exist, and fact that cryptocurrency at this moment is not something what's on the list of priorities.