Christine Lagarde: “I guarantee the security of the digital euro”

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) has never invested in cryptocurrencies, but is confident that, unlike the state digital currency, crypto assets have no value.

Christine Lagarde in an interview statedwhich guarantees the safety of the digital euro, because the ECB will stand behind it:

“I have always said that crypto assets are very speculative and very risky. My very humble assessment is that it’s worth nothing. They are not based on anything, they do not have an underlying asset that could serve as a security anchor.”

The digital euro, on the other hand, will be backed by the reserves and expertise of the European Central Bank, Lagarde says. This guarantees the protection of users of the state digital currency, security for the traditional financial system of the European Union and the effectiveness of international transactions, the European official insists:

“The day we have a central bank digital currency, I guarantee that any digital euro will be backed by central bank reserves.”

The head of the ECB believes that the state digital currency is distinguished from crypto assets primarily by the presence of a highly centralized governing body:

“The CBDC will be backed by a central bank and I think this will make the digital euro very different from cryptocurrencies that are not backed by anything.”

Lagarde revealed that while she has never invested in cryptocurrencies, her son has already invested in digital assets.

Last week, ECB executive committee member Fabio Panetta said the central bank would be ready to issue a fully functioning government digital currency by 2026.