European Central Bank Exec Wants Unbacked Crypto Treated as Gambling

Fabio Panetta, a Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) has argued in favor of regulation that recognizes “the speculative nature of unbacked cryptos and treat them as gambling activities.”

Panetta believes that “vulnerable” users of unbacked digital assets can be protected through the application of rules similar to the European Commission-recommended principles for online gambling. The ECB executive stated these in a blog post posted on the ECB’s page on Thursday.

The European Commission recommendations of 2014 published in the Official Journal of the European Union (EU) seeks to protect consumers and players of online gambling services. It also seeks to prevent minors from gambling online.

In the post, Panetta described unbacked digital assets as “a gamble disguised as an investment asset,” adding that “they do not perform any socially or economically useful function.”