Chief of Central Bank of Hungary proposed cryptocurrency ban

Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary wants to ban cryptocurrencies

MNB Governor Gуörguu Matolcsy called on the country and EU to ban BTC mining and trade. The official claimed that the crypto could serve as a channel for illegal activity.

He cited China as an example, which introduced a total ban on everything related to cryptocurrencies. Matolcsy also mentioned a recent proposal by Russia’s central bank, which also wanted to ban the use of digital assets. However, he ignored the fact that the Russian authorities had decided to regulate them.

EU must act together to prevent the creation of new financial idioms and financial bubbles. EU citizens and companies will be able to own cryptocurrency abroad and regulators will monitor their assets.

Matolcsy also stressed the concerns of the Russian central bank – that the market value of cryptocurrencies is determined by “speculative demand for future growth, which creates bubbles”.

Governments and regulators began to look beyond cryptocurrency trading, with cryptocurrency mining also becoming a hot topic.

Just last month, Erik Thedeen, Vice-President of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), called for a ban on Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining. Thedeen spoke about the significant risks that mining poses to the environment. ESMA Vice-President added that EU regulators should support greener Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mining due to its lower energy profile.

Thedeen’s comments appeared before a hearing of the US subcommittee on cryptocurrency mining and the environment. US lawmakers were also in favor of PoS because of its more favorable energy profile.

US agencies join the US government and raise alarms about BTC mining. It is therefore no surprise that other countries are jumping on the bandwagon.