European Parliament urged to ban cryptocurrencies immediately

Former Belgian Minister of Finance and economic representative of the right-wing ECR political party in the European Parliament Johan Van Overveld called on the EU authorities to immediately ban cryptocurrencies.

Johan Van Overtveld compared cryptocurrencies to drugs and called on the EU authorities to take measures to protect national financial systems. According to the politician, it was the focus on digital assets and serving the interests of cryptocurrency industry participants that caused the collapse of three leading US banks.

Overtveld drew the attention of MEPs to the fact that the consequences of the collapse of the crypto-oriented Silvergate Bank and Silicon Valley Bank were not limited to the American financial system, but spread to European markets, including bringing Credit Suisse’s shares to a record low and forcing it to take out a nearly $ 53 billion loan from the Swiss National Bank to maintain liquidity.

«An important step that should be taken in view of the current banking crisis is to introduce a strict ban on cryptocurrencies. If the government bans drugs, it should also ban cryptocurrencies,» the parliamentarian said.

However, despite the skeptical attitude of Overtveld and some other MEPs towards cryptocurrencies, the European Parliament passed a bill on digital wallets, which aims to create a European digital wallet that could compete with the identification systems provided by large technology companies such as Google and Apple. European Digital Identity is intended to provide a legal framework for the creation of a system of national digital wallets interoperable across the EU, where citizens can access all documents, from birth certificates to driver’s licenses. The new bill was passed by 418 votes to 103.