ECB board member calls for crypto to be regulated like gambling
Fabio Panetta has said that unbacked cryptocurrencies should be treated as “gambling activities”.
Germany.- Fabio Panetta, a member of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) executive board, has called for unbacked cryptocurrencies to be regulated along similar lines to gambling. Writing in a blog on the ECB website, he said the recent volatility in the crypto market demonstrated the need for tighter regulation.
He said unbacked cryptocurrencies whose value depends on supply and demand rather than assets were speculative in nature and thus should be treated as ‘gambling activities’.
He said: “As a form of investment, unbacked cryptos lack any intrinsic value. They are speculative assets. Investors buy them with the sole objective of selling them on at a higher price. In fact, they are gambling disguised as an investment asset.”
He added: “Vulnerable consumers should be protected through principles similar to those recommended by the European Commission for online gambling. They should be taxed in accordance with the costs they impose on society.”
He also stressed that regulators need to probe the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering, terrorist financing and avoiding sanctions, and of the risk that investors could lose huge sums of money.
He noted that the recent failures in the crypto market “occurred in rapid succession, reflecting crypto players’ incredibly high leverage, their interconnectedness across the crypto ecosystem and their inadequate governance structures.”
See also: BetConstruct approved by MGA to allow player deposits in cryptocurrencies
