The theme of digital coins the political debate continues to agitate, not least in Euroland. It is enough to think in this sense of a report recently published by the European Central Bank, titled "Crypto-Assets: Implications for financial stability, monetary policy, and payments and market infrastructures", in which Frankfurt analysts have put under their magnifying glass the impact that cryptocurrency could have on the global economy. A impact judged as still limited, considered as currently only a modest percentage of businesses have opted for virtual currency payments. As such, it should therefore not represent an element capable of influencing monetary policies, at least as long as the size of the phenomenon remains at these levels.
Mario Draghi's statements
At the same time, however, the ECB itself has not failed to reiterate the need for one greater vigilance on his part, in line with the statements made in this regard by Mario Draghi on the phenomenon of digital assets. The outgoing governor in fact, in a recent statement, had in turn affirmed that according to him Bitcoin and Altcoin are not real currencies, but extremely risky assets and therefore to be treated with due precautions.
A declaration diluted by the institutional role, but which reminded many of those made during the 2017 by Jamie Dymon, president and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, which without excessive diplomacy had accused Bitcoin at the time of being nothing more than a simple scam, also threatening the dismissal of the trader of his bank surprised to operate on cryptocurrencies. In the short span of a few days, however, JPMorgan Chase herself would have been surprised to buy large quantities of Bitcoins for its customers, gaining just on the fall of the quotations of the cryptocurrency queen followed her words. Declarations which had finally aroused many ironies and even some accusations of disturbing the markets, later corrected by the words on the Blockchain, indicated as a key technology for future developments not only of the US institution, but also of the banking system in general.
The attitude of France and Germany
Draghi's statements, however, were intended by many as the logical corollary of the positions taken in the past months from France and Germany. The Paris government, in particular, has repeatedly expressed its intention to tighten its grip on the sector, giving rise to legislation aimed at cutting off use in illegal activities. An attitude made explicit by Bruno Le Marie, the Transalpine Minister of Finance, who appointed the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of France Jean-Pierre Landau to draw up the most suitable rules in order to supervise the development of virtual currencies. A move that many analysts have interpreted in the sense of a regulatory system capable of bringing the phenomenon back under the institutional bed.
However, Le Marie's decision had been greeted with considerable favor by the German government and in particular from his counterpart Peter Altmaier, as well as from Joachim Wuermeling, member of the board of directors of Bundesbank. The latter, in turn, had not hesitated to relaunch, stating that virtual uniforms should be regulated with global rules, as national rules cannot be enough to manage a now global phenomenon, such as to require international cooperation.
Given the volatility shown by Dimon, it remains to be seen whether this attitude of partial closure of the political and monetary authorities will continue for a long time or give way to a reconsideration of the phenomenon, starting perhaps from his obvious utility for online transactions and the banking system, demonstrated by the many partnerships established over the last few years, for example by Ripple.
