Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank has recently revealed it doesn’t see cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as “real money,” as it claims these can’t be used for everyday purposes and are too volatile.
As reported by local publication Dutch News, citing a report on FinTech, the central bank is notably not planning on imposing a ban on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but doesn’t consider them “real money.” The bank’s divisional director Petra Hielkema stated:
If something wants to be treated as money, you have to be able to spend, save and calculate with it… So we do not consider it [cryptocurrencies] to be money as such.
Per Hielkema, cryptocurrencies can’t be used as money because they’re too volatile for savings, and its value is expressed in “real money.” While the financial institution isn’t planning a cryptocurrency crackdown, Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra has earlier this year called for a European and international movement to “combat the risks” associated with cryptocurrencies.
Per Dutch News, Hoekstra proposed a ban that would stop companies from targeting ordinary consumers with ads promoting cryptocurrencies or other risky financial products. A similar move was adopted by various tech giants, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft’s search engine Bing.
Moreover, Hoekstra proposed approaching credit card companies to get them to warn consumers buying cryptocurrencies on credit is a risky move. Late last year, when most cryptocurrencies were surging to their all-time highs, the “buy bitcoin with credit card” term became popular on Google, as consumers were rushing into the market.
The finance minister also revealed extra attention is going to be paid in a bid to improve transparency in cryptocurrency trading platforms through a “newly introduced anti-money laundering legislation.” Per the news outlet, over half a million Dutch households own cryptocurrencies.
Bullish on Blockchain
While the Dutch central bank isn’t too fond of cryptocurrencies, its divisional director revealed it considers their underlying blockchain technology “extremely interesting.” Per her words, the financial institution has been experimenting with it for three years, and developed four prototypes.
The central bank’s experiments, Hielkema noted, revealed that distributed ledger-based systems can’t be incorporated in the country’s payment system, presumably because of their scalability issues. She noted, however, there are “possibilities for [it] in the future, with more innovation.”
