Governor of the Hungarian National Bank, Gyorgy Matolcsy, wants a blanket ban on everything crypto – from cryptocurrency trading to mining, across the EU. Citing the recent crypto ban in China, Matolcsy said he supports the same for the European Union.
The Hungarian National Bank, in a blog post titled “Time has come to ban crypto trading and mining in the EU”, highlighted the Russian central bank’s call for a blanket ban on domestic cryptocurrency trading and mining. Matolcsy said the EU should ban the mining method used to produce new bitcoin.
He strongly believes that cryptocurrencies can fuel service illegal activities and build up financial pyramids. The governor noted the concerns raised by the Russian central bank that the market value in crypto is determined by speculative demand for future growth. This creates bubbles.
Matolcsy believes an outright ban on cryptocurrencies is a must to counter the investor’s risks related to bubbles and financial pyramids. He said citizens and companies can own cryptocurrencies abroad. But regulators will track their holdings.
It should be noted that in September 2021, Hungary unveiled a bronze statue of bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto in Graphisoft Park in Budapest. The sculpture – the upper half is a figure of a featureless face wearing a hoodie with the BTC logo. Debreczeni Barnabas, the CEO of Shinrai, had said Satoshi Nakamoto has created independent money free of any middlemen. It has empowered people with financial sovereignty. And the statue is a reminder that courage is a virtue. People have to keep on dreaming big.
