Former Belgian finance minister urges European Parliament to ban cryptocurrencies

The former Belgian finance minister, the economic representative of the right-wing political party ECR in the European Parliament, called on the EU authorities to immediately ban cryptocurrencies.

Johan Van Overtveldt compared cryptocurrencies to drugs and urged EU authorities to take measures to protect national financial systems. According to the politician, it was the focus on crypto assets and serving the interests of participants in the cryptocurrency industry that became the root cause of the collapse of the three leading US banks. 

Overtveld drew the attention of the MEPs 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 the collapse of Credit Suisse shares to a record low and forcing it to borrow almost $53 billion from the Swiss National Bank for maintaining liquidity.

“An important lesson to be learned from the current banking crisis is the imposition of a strict ban on cryptocurrencies. Speculative poison without any economic or social added value! If the government bans drugs, it should also ban cryptocurrencies,” the parliamentarian said.

Overtveldt represents the European Right Conservatives and Reformers, the fifth largest political group in Parliament, on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament. Previously, from 2014 to 2018, he was Belgian Finance Minister.

The European Parliament passed a bill on the use of zero-knowledge proof technology to protect the privacy of digital wallets of EU citizens by a majority vote.