EU Financial Commissioner Mairead McGuinness believes that regulation of cryptocurrencies is much more effective than banning them, and Central Bank digital currencies can become an alternative to stablecoins.
Mairead McGuinness stated that cryptocurrencies and related financial products are already “not going anywhere”, so they should be strictly regulated. At the same time, people investing in them must exercise extreme caution and carefully assess the risks associated with them. According to McGuinness, investing in cryptocurrencies is not suitable for everyone, as these assets are characterized by high volatility.
The commissioner recalled that last year the total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market reached $3 trillion, and now it has dropped to $1.7 trillion. She also mentioned the risks of hacking cryptocurrency exchanges, which can lead to serious losses of user funds. The Commissioner said that the European Union is already considering a Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) bill aimed at protecting users of cryptocurrencies. McGuinness hopes it will be approved by the European Parliament.
She also noted that the financial system is rapidly “digitizing” and the use of cash is declining. Therefore, it is only logical that central banks are exploring the possibility of launching their own digital currencies. They can become a public alternative to stablecoins, so it makes sense to do such research. It is for this reason that the ECB has started working on a digital euro project to keep up with the international trend. McGuinness added that the Commission is also actively involved in this, exploring the design and use cases of the digital euro. These studies may take about two years.
Recall that this month the European Commission began public discussions on the launch of the digital euro, and plans to submit a corresponding bill next year.
