Fabio Panetta: Fiat Cryptocurrencies Have No Intrinsic Value

Cryptocurrencies are gambling, and therefore should be regulated accordingly, says a member of the executive committee of the European Central Bank. Fabio Panetta has said that digital currencies that try to appear as investment assets should be regulated like a gambling industry. According to the official, such assets are speculative, as investors acquire them for the sole purpose of selling them as expensive as possible.. Digital currencies lack intrinsic value, they cannot be used as a payment method in most cases, which means that they are definitely something of a kind of entertainment. Panetta believes that the level of interconnection of the crypto industry with traditional finance is quite high, so the industry needs to be carefully regulated. “We believe that the cryptocurrency industry cannot be unregulated. We must address gaps in the law and help deal with the significant social costs associated with cryptocurrencies,” says Panetta. A new wave of industry regulation should treat cryptocurrencies as a gambling tool and tax the industry accordingly. Also, regulators, says Panetta, should take a closer look at the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry, since this sector is still poorly regulated and understudied. Earlier, the euro banker urged the public not to invest in digital assets, as they do not bring any benefit and are not suitable as a payment instrument.