ECB President Says Central Banks Are ‘Very Unlikely’ to Add Bitcoin as a Reserve Asset

In a Business Insider report, European Central Bank (ECB) President, Christine Lagarde, repeated her skepticism on Bitcoin, stating central banks are not looking to add the digital asset as a reserve currency any time soon. During a call with The Economist, Lagarde again said BTC is not a real currency; hence central banks are “very unlikely” to add it to their balances.

“It's very unlikely – I would say it's out of the question,” Lagarde on whether central banks will add Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

These, however, are repetitive comments on Bitcoin from Lagarde, who has been against the coin since her appointment to the ECB. Earlier in the year, Lagarde released a statement warning against investment in Bitcoin – stating it is a highly speculative asset and could be used for “reprehensible” money laundering.

However, she believes that there’s room for digital currencies (such as the digital euro) to grow in the coming years. Due to the current global pandemic, governments across have taken a step towards digitization. Agreeing to ECB board members’ proposal, Lagarde stated the ECB is preparing a digital euro, which could be released in the coming four years.