ECB president Lagarde has announced she is stepping down

[BlackHatCoiner]

Whenever I hear the news, I ask myself:

- Is this information helpful in my life?
- Will I change my behavior and routine because of this particular information?
- Would my life be the same regardless of whether I invest into this information and learn more about it?

It's a great way to save time and filter something as not useful for your life, which is 99.9% of the news.

[NeuroticFish]

Just remember bitcoin is not crypto.

This is crystal clear to me. But the rules made by ECB affect quite similarly both Bitcoin and crypto, so I had to mention both.

I don’t believe in miracles.

Me neither, but I still hope for somebody at least slightly more open minded, although the chances are not too good.

Some ten years ago, the geniuses from the ECB decided to withdraw EUR 500 banknotes from circulation because they concluded that terrorists could use them - and a few years later they concluded that they were wrong - although the same banknotes are still withdrawn from circulation.

And now they will print new banknotes with completely new faces to make criminals... I don't know, get rid of paper money? change it?
Imho the only result will be quite a surprise many elderly Europeans will get and quite some expenses, since I don't expect all this printing and changing will go cheap.
Plus, let's not forget their magnificent digital euro thing... (sigh).

who understands cryptocurrencies less than vegetable sellers on the market.

I think that somebody becoming chair of ECB will most probably get to understand this or that on Bitcoin. But that doesn't mean he/she will show it and doesn't necessarily mean he/she will give it a chance.

[Dogedegen]

Whenever I hear the news, I ask myself:

- Is this information helpful in my life?
- Will I change my behavior and routine because of this particular information?
- Would my life be the same regardless of whether I invest into this information and learn more about it?

It's a great way to save time and filter something as not useful for your life, which is 99.9% of the news.

It is a good approach towards evaluating news, but then you can argue that the information that is being considered here could be helpful to your life. Even though the chance is very low, if there was a very pro Bitcoin ECB president then that could have a dramatic impact on your life. Because of that the news that she is stepping down is relevant to us, but then after we take a look at the realistic potential successors we can realize that in the end this is not relevant to us and could be forgotten. The European Union is very corrupt in recent years like many other parts of the world, they do only power grabbing and political games and very little that helps their citizens or humanity. Don't forget, Bitcoin bad, digital euro and client-side scanning good. 

[Italian Panic]

Whenever I hear the news, I ask myself:

- Is this information helpful in my life?
- Will I change my behavior and routine because of this particular information?
- Would my life be the same regardless of whether I invest into this information and learn more about it?

It's a great way to save time and filter something as not useful for your life, which is 99.9% of the news.

This sounds really good, but in fact my day hasn’t changed much. In fact, I’m sure these people wouldn’t give up a position like that unless they were already certain they had another similar position lined up and all sorted. In fact, their roles are the result of political deals, not merit based appointments. Meritocracy doesn’t exist at this levels; what exists is brazenness and compromise, which never leads to anything good.
Lagarde will almost certainly be Le Pen rival for the French presidency.

[Lucius]

~snip~

Some ten years ago, the geniuses from the ECB decided to withdraw EUR 500 banknotes from circulation because they concluded that terrorists could use them - and a few years later they concluded that they were wrong - although the same banknotes are still withdrawn from circulation.

And now they will print new banknotes with completely new faces to make criminals... I don't know, get rid of paper money? change it?
Imho the only result will be quite a surprise many elderly Europeans will get and quite some expenses, since I don't expect all this printing and changing will go cheap.
Plus, let's not forget their magnificent digital euro thing... (sigh).

I don't know how much it will cost to print the new banknotes (it certainly won't be cheap), but honestly I don't like the current ones at all - among the new designs there are some that I like, although somehow I doubt that they will choose the best one. The digital euro (when it will be available one day) will initially be nothing but an alternative, because if what they say comes true, every adult EU citizen will be able to have a limited amount of digital euros in their digital wallet.

who understands cryptocurrencies less than vegetable sellers on the market.

I think that somebody becoming chair of ECB will most probably get to understand this or that on Bitcoin. But that doesn't mean he/she will show it and doesn't necessarily mean he/she will give it a chance.

Specifically, I was thinking of ECB Vice-President Vujcic, given that he received that position thanks to the fact that he brought Croatia into the eurozone at the worst possible moment and caused such an increase in the price of goods and services that hardly anyone could have dreamed of.

He probably has no chance of becoming the president of the ECB (I hope) because he has never said a single meaningful sentence about cryptocurrencies.

[NeuroticFish]

Specifically, I was thinking of ECB Vice-President Vujcic, given that he received that position thanks to the fact that he brought Croatia into the eurozone at the worst possible moment and caused such an increase in the price of goods and services that hardly anyone could have dreamed of.

He probably has no chance of becoming the president of the ECB (I hope) because he has never said a single meaningful sentence about cryptocurrencies.

Afaik the main competitors for ECB chair are: Pablo Hernández de Cos, Klaas Knot, Joachim Nagel, François Villeroy de Galhau and Isabel Schnabel. As you see, Vujcic is not on the list.

The digital euro (when it will be available one day) will initially be nothing but an alternative, because if what they say comes true, every adult EU citizen will be able to have a limited amount of digital euros in their digital wallet.

It's not only "will be able to have", it's more like "will clearly have", since I expect the digital euro will become the main competitor to the rather expensive Visa and Mastercard; and less fees means the shops will use it. But why a stablecoin under the control of politicians, ffs?? It's known that under political direct control the chance for a low quality something rises exponentially, not mentioning the risks of them changing their minds (eg on rules and governance of the digital euro), following the interest of whoever pays them (donations, lobby and other means, no matter) or simply masking their incompetence behind doing something really stupid against the digital euro possessors (not holders, because afaik one is not allowed to have more than a certain rather small amount)

[fillippone]

Afaik the main competitors for ECB chair are: Pablo Hernández de Cos, Klaas Knot, Joachim Nagel, François Villeroy de Galhau and Isabel Schnabel. As you see, Vujcic is not on the list.

Of those, the only two real candidates are Pablo Hernández de Cos and Klaas Knot.
I guess the only criteria that won’t be used for the choice is the fit for the role. They will be chosen based on their passports and supporters; it’s a political game here rather than a technical one.

[avp2306]

Afaik the main competitors for ECB chair are: Pablo Hernández de Cos, Klaas Knot, Joachim Nagel, François Villeroy de Galhau and Isabel Schnabel. As you see, Vujcic is not on the list.

Of those, the only two real candidates are Pablo Hernández de Cos and Klaas Knot.
I guess the only criteria that won’t be used for the choice is the fit for the role. They will be chosen based on their passports and supporters; it’s a political game here rather than a technical one.

Look at the survey, they made on which Pablo Hernandez got more votes than Knot

A recent Bloomberg survey of economists gives de Cos a slender lead: 12 respondents picked him, against nine for Knot. The survey offers a snapshot of expert preferences, not a forecast of the outcome. EU leaders will make the appointment, with national claims and other ECB vacancies likely to shape negotiations.

Also base on what they write in this site https://www.politico.eu/article/meet-the-front-runners-to-replace-ecb-christine-lagarde

Pablo Hernandez has been long time groomed unto that position.

De Cos has long been groomed by Lagarde’s predecessor Mario Draghi, whose voice continues to carry a heavy weight in European economic debates and may influence the preference of some countries as they mull who to place at the top of the Frankfurt institution.

Maybe that indicates that, Pablo Hernandez de Coz might going to take that position.

[Abiky]

It's not only "will be able to have", it's more like "will clearly have", since I expect the digital euro will become the main competitor to the rather expensive Visa and Mastercard; and less fees means the shops will use it. But why a stablecoin under the control of politicians, ffs?? It's known that under political direct control the chance for a low quality something rises exponentially, not mentioning the risks of them changing their minds (eg on rules and governance of the digital euro), following the interest of whoever pays them (donations, lobby and other means, no matter) or simply masking their incompetence behind doing something really stupid against the digital euro possessors (not holders, because afaik one is not allowed to have more than a certain rather small amount)

They better add some privacy features to their "Digital Euro". Because if it makes use of Bitcoin's transparent Blockchain design, then all activities will be publicly visible online. That includes corrupt transactions made by politicians and bankers alike. If the EU wants to roll out a "Digital Euro" it'll need to make use of privacy preserving tech such as ZKPs and RingCT.

One would expect the EU to be more strict against crypto, just to maintain Euro dominance. Otherwise, people would choose stablecoins or traditional cryptos over the "Digital Euro". At least, any other ECB replacement is better than Lagarde. We'll see what happens.

[Dogedegen]

Pablo Hernandez has been long time groomed unto that position.

Yeah sadly this is the state of the European Union, grooming allies and picking people based on nepotism instead of expertise and vision. How many of the recent leaders of any institution were truly good? I can't even name one sadly.. Just don't forget that in "official" corruption data, this is one of the least corrupt places in the world. 

They better add some privacy features to their "Digital Euro". Because if it makes use of Bitcoin's transparent Blockchain design, then all activities will be publicly visible online. That includes corrupt transactions made by politicians and bankers alike. If the EU wants to roll out a "Digital Euro" it'll need to make use of privacy preserving tech such as ZKPs and RingCT.

I don't think that either one of that will happen because you seem to misunderstand some of those technologies. First of there is no need to have a transparent blockchain at all, why would they? If they follow a blockchain design it will be a private or a federated chain with the complete control being with the ECB or some other regulator. Then when the banks that join the network get access, they are going to have limited access depending on their needs and from that users will be served just numbers on a screen. From your perspective you will not see anything different, like you see numbers in your bank now. How could you possibly read other people's transaction from this? You will not be able to. CT also has no chance of being implemented, that risks creating hidden inflation bugs that could have devastating effects even on a centralized coin like this because the supply could be diluted slowly over time.

One would expect the EU to be more strict against crypto, just to maintain Euro dominance. Otherwise, people would choose stablecoins or traditional cryptos over the "Digital Euro". At least, any other ECB replacement is better than Lagarde. We'll see what happens.

Correct me if I am wrong, but interest in Bitcoin and shitcoins is pretty weak for Europeans?

[slapper]

I guess the only criteria that won’t be used for the choice is the fit for the role. They will be chosen based on their passports and supporters; it’s a political game here rather than a technical one.

Agreed. Lagarde leaving next February instead of when her term actually ends is timed to come before the French election, and that's how most of the papers read it. If they just wanted the best candidate, there'd be no reason to rush it before the polls.

Of those, the only two real candidates are Pablo Hernández de Cos and Klaas Knot.

Well, both candidates are more than qualified on paper, but what's telling for us is that De Cos chaired the Basel Committee when they came up with rules for how much exposure banks can have to crypto, assigning it a risk weight that essentially tells banks to stay away from bitcoin. Knot, on the other hand, ran the Financial Stability Board when they came up with a global framework for crypto. So both have relevant experience, just mostly in keeping crypto contained.

The "contain crypto" playbook already has the personal sign-off of whichever guy wins this passport lottery. @NeuroticFish was hoping for a slightly more open minded chair, so either way it's kinda underwhelming.

Germany not going all in for Nagel is interesting too. Feels like Berlin cares more about what it gets in the package, with Lane's and Schnabel's seats also opening up next year, than about the top chair itself. Again more passports than policy.

[fillippone]

Well, both candidates are more than qualified on paper, but what's telling for us is that De Cos chaired the Basel Committee when they came up with rules for how much exposure banks can have to crypto, assigning it a risk weight that essentially tells banks to stay away from bitcoin. Knot, on the other hand, ran the Financial Stability Board when they came up with a global framework for crypto. So both have relevant experience, just mostly in keeping crypto contained.

Well, it seems to me both candidates are quite against crypto. Everyone has their particular twist, but the common denominator is hate for freedom bitcoin and love for mass surveillance digital euro.
It will be difficult to do worse than Madame Lagarde, but well, I am here to be surprised again by European politicians!