Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), has stated that Bitcoin will not be included in the official reserves of central banks within the European Union (EU).
According to Bloomberg, Lagarde stated this in response to recent comments from Aleš Michl, Governor of the Czech National Bank (CNB), who suggested that Bitcoin could be added to the CNB’s foreign exchange reserves as part of a diversification strategy. Lagarde dismissed the idea, asserting that Bitcoin does not meet the necessary criteria set by either the ECB or any other national central bank in the EU.
Lagarde’s declaration reflects the ECB’s continued scepticism and distrust of Bitcoin. The bank has long argued that Bitcoin fails as a reserve asset due to its lack of liquidity, safety, and stability.
In a 2021 blog post, the central bank emphasized that Bitcoin’s design flaws and technological limitations make it an unreliable means of payment. The ECB maintains that an effective currency should serve as a stable store of value and a dependable medium of exchange—criteria Bitcoin fails to meet due to its volatility and decentralized nature. It claimed that the anonymity of transactions is a major risk.
Notably, Largde has previously called the cryptocurrency a “highly speculative asset” and said regulating it would be a “funny business” because of its use in illicit financial activities.
The bank has also criticized Bitcoin’s environmental impact, arguing that the energy-intensive nature of Bitcoin mining contradicts efforts to combat climate change.
Despite the ECB’s resistance, support for Bitcoin as a reserve asset is growing in Europe. In December 2024, former German Finance Minister Christian Lindner urged both the ECB and Germany’s Bundesbank to consider holding Bitcoin in their reserves.
Similarly, in April 2024, Swiss Bitcoin advocacy groups launched an initiative to pressure the Swiss National Bank (SNB) into adding Bitcoin to its reserves. The groups began a campaign to collect over 100,000 signatures within 18 months to push for a constitutional amendment allowing the SNB to hold Bitcoin alongside traditional assets—a challenge that previously fell short in October 2021.
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