Hungary's central bank chief wants EU-wide crypto trading and mining ban

György Matolcsy, Governor of the Hungarian National Bank, has proposed a blanket ban on all cryptocurrency trading and mining operations across the European Union. 

Governor Matolcsy cited the recent crypto ban imposed by China in a blog post shared by the Hungarian central bank a.k.a. Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) titled “Time has come to ban crypto trading and mining in the EU.”

He also pointed out the Russian central bank’s proposal that calls for a blanket ban on domestic cryptocurrency trading and mining. Reciprocating the proposals for a crypto ban, Matolcsy said:

“I perfectly agree with the proposal and also support the senior EU financial regulator’s point that the EU should ban the mining method used to produce most new bitcoin.”

The governor strongly believes in cryptocurrency’s potential to “service illegal activities and tend to build up financial pyramids.” Matolcsy also highlighted concerns raised by the Russian central bank — that the market value in crypto is determined by the “speculative demand for future growth, which creates bubbles.”

On an end note, governor Matolcsy calls for an outright blanket ban on cryptocurrencies to counter the investor’s risks related to financial pyramids and bubbles:

“EU citizens and companies would be allowed to own cryptocurrencies abroad and regulators will track their holdings.”

Related: Satoshi Nakamoto statue goes up in Budapest

On Sept 2021, a bronze statue of legendary Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto was unveiled in Graphisoft Park in Budapest, Hungary.

Satoshi statue unveiled today in Budapest. Love how it is reflective, underlining how we all play a role in Bitcoin.May it inspire all those fighting against authoritarianism worldwide, including dissidents and journalists being persecuted by Viktor Orbán in Hungary. pic.twitter.com/kEOaDt4ahi

— Alex Gladstein ⚡ (@gladstein) September 16, 2021

As Cointelegraph reported at the time, the sculpture shows the upper half of a figure with a featureless face wearing a hoodie with the BTC logo. Debreczeni Barnabás, the CEO of Hungarian crypto exchange Shinrai was among the numerous crypto entrepreneurs who spoke at the ceremony:

“Satoshi Nakamoto has created an independent money free of any middlemen that empowered people with financial sovereignty [...] We have erected this statue to remind ourselves courage is virtue. We need to keep on dreaming big.”