ECB President Says Bitcoin Won't Enter Reserves of Any EU Central Banks

CB President Christine Lagarde on Thursday expressed confidence that Bitcoin will not be included in the EU's list of reserved assets. The top official's stance comes weeks after US President Donald Trump's made statements that he plans to add BTC to the country's reserves. Bitcoin's value dropped by 1.23 percent on Friday amid ongoing market volatility, trading at approximately $104,002 (roughly Rs. 90.1 lakh). This development highlights the differing stances between the US and EU on Bitcoin's role in traditional reserved assets.

ECB Chief Says Reserve Assets Must Have Liquidity, Assured Security

Ales Michl, the governor of the Czech Republic's central bank, asked ECB's General Council to consider the addition of Bitcoin to the country's reserved assets, Reuters reported on Thursday. The country is part of the EU and has a seat on the ECB's general council.

Dismissing the suggestion in a press conference, Lagarde said, "I am confident that ... Bitcoins won't enter the reserves of any of the central banks of the General Council."

The ECB chief explained that assets to be considered for addition to a country's reserves need to have liquidity and assured security. This means that assets like Bitcoin, that can be used to facilitate money laundering or other criminal activities, cannot be seen as a safe addition to reserved assets.

“I had a good conversation with my colleague from the Czech Republic and I leave it to him to make whatever announcement he wants to make, but I'm confident that he's convinced, as we all are, of the necessity to have liquid, secure, and safe reserves,” Lagarde said.

The EU's crypto-focussed MiCA regulations went into effect on December 30, 2024. In recent weeks, multiple crypto firms have obtained MiCA licences in EU countries. These firms can expand their businesses in the bloc, where crypto guidelines have been made clear under the MiCA regulations.

Bitcoin as a US Strategic Reserve

During his election campaign last year, US President Donald Trump said he would transform the US into the world's crypto capital. He vouched that he would make Bitcoin a reserved asset in the US, sending the crypto asset to an all-time high of over $109,000 (roughly Rs. 95 lakh).

From assigning pro-crypto policymakers to key positions into federal agencies like the SEC to creating a special Task Force to accelerate work on crypto rules, President Trump has already started taking crucial decisions to shape the crypto sector in the US following his return to the White House.

Other than the US and the Czech Republic, no other nation has sparked a conversation around making Bitcoin a reserved asset. The cryptocurrency is still largely unregulated in most parts of the world and remains prone to the impacts of macro and micro changes in economics and geopolitics.