The president of the European Central Bank says that cryptocurrencies are ‘worthless’ and ‘founded on nothing’.
Christine Lagarde said on Dutch television that her son had invested in cryptocurrency, without success.
“My extremely modest opinion is that cryptocurrency is worthless. It is founded on nothing, and there are no underlying assets to serve as a safety anchor,” she told College Tour.
“I have always stated that these types of assets are highly speculative and extremely risky.
“[Those who do not comprehend the risks] will lose everything.”
Lagarde says the bloc’s planned central bank digital currency (CBDC) is different and will be backed by the bank.
The implementation of the ‘digital euro’ is expected to commence in 2023.
“The day when we have the central bank digital currency – any digital euro – I’ll guarantee it,” Lagarde said. “So the central bank will be behind it.
“I think that’s vastly different from any of those things.”
China to deploy blockchain company internationally
A blockchain company backed by the Chinese State is planning international expansion.
Yifan He, CEO of Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), told CNBC that it aimed to launch overseas in August and that its code would be open-source to engender trust.
The company is not linked to cryptocurrencies – which are frowned upon by the communist Chinese government – and aims to link blockchains together to help businesses deploy the technology through the ‘Spartan Network’.
One of its half-dozen blockchains will be a non-crypto version of Ethereum, with gas fees paid in US dollars rather than Ether.
Cryptocurrency shorts
Manchester City – who were crowned Premier League champions amid final-day drama on Sunday – have launched an NFT collection of 3D interactive cards featuring its players on Animoca Brands’ Quidd platform.
Luxury watch manufacturer TAG Heuer, founded in Switzerland more than 150 years ago, has introduced cryptocurrency payments for customers in the United States through Bitpay.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has said on Twitter that he is no longer a billionaire following the cryptocurrency carnage of the last few weeks.
Crypto prices
The overall market cap of the more than 19,500 coins is at $1.29 trillion at the time of writing (7am UK), up from $1.28tr on Friday morning.
Market leader Bitcoin – the original cryptocurrency created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto – added more than $150 to around $30,300. BTC is slightly up in a week.
Ethereum, the second most valuable crypto coin – created as a decentralised network for smart contracts on the blockchain – added $20 to around $2,040. ETH is 1% down over the course of a week.
Binance Coin is a cryptocurrency created by popular crypto exchange Binance to assist its aim in becoming the infrastructure services provider for the entire blockchain ecosystem. Its BNB token gained $14 to $323, leaving it 8% up over seven days.
The XRP token of Ripple, a payment settlement asset exchange and remittance system, acts as a bridge for transfers between other currencies. XRP lost 1 cent to 42c and is 1% down over seven days.
Cardano is an open source network facilitating dApps which considers itself to be an updated version of Ethereum. Its ADA token, designed to allow owners to participate in the operation of the network, gained more than 1c to top 54 cents. It is 4% down over the course of a week.
Solana is a blockchain built to make decentralised finance accessible on a larger scale – and capable of processing 50,000 transactions per second. Its SOL token added more than $1 to $52.50 yet is down 5% compared with a week ago.
Meme coin DOGE was created as a satire on the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies but is now a major player in the space. DOGE remained around 8.6c, leaving it 4% down in a week.
Polkadot was founded by the Swiss-based Web3 Foundation as an open-source project to develop a decentralised web. Its DOT token, which aims to securely connect blockchains, rose slightly to $10.20 yet is 9% lower than its price a week ago.
Avalanche is a lightning-quick verifiable platform for institutions, enterprises and governments. Its AVAX token rose $1.50 to $31.33 yet is 8% down in a week.
To see how the valuations of the main coins have changed in recent times – and for round-ups of recent cryptocurrency news developments – click here.
For valuations of the top 100 coins by market cap in US dollars, plus 24-hour price change, see below.