Hungary’s Central Bank Head Calls on EU to Ban Crypto Mining and Trading

The governor of the Hungarian National Bank said he agreed with the Russian central bank’s earlier proposal to ban crypto activities.

Feb 11, 2022 at 2:36 p.m. UTC

Updated Feb 11, 2022 at 5:14 p.m. UTC

Gyorgy Matolcsy, governor of Hungary's central bank, center (Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images) — Gyorgy Matolcsy, governor of Hungary's central bank, center, gestures as he speaks alongside Marton Nagy, deputy governor of Hungary's central bank, left, and Laszlo Windisch, deputy governor of Hungary's central bank, right, during an interest rates decision briefing at the Magyar Nemzeti Bank in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Hungary's central bank took its first step to unwind monetary stimulus since 2011, the start of tightening by one of Europe's most enduring proponents of loose policy. Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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The chief of Hungary’s national bank said he supports banning crypto trading and mining in the European Union (EU) on the grounds that it could “service illegal activities and tend to build up financial pyramids.”

Following China’s move making all crypto activities illegal in September and Russia’s central bank recently proposing to do the same, György Matolcsy wrote in a statement that “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 Russian national bank recently switched its position to supporting the regulation of crypto rather than outright banning it.
“It is clear-cut that cryptocurrencies could service illegal activities and tend to build up financial pyramids,” Matolcsy wrote. “The EU should act together in order to preempt the building up of new financial pyramids and financial bubbles.”
Matolcsy proposed instead that EU citizens and companies would be allowed to own cryptocurrencies outside the EU and regulators would track their holdings.
Swedish regulators have been calling for a ban on crypto mining in the EU over concerns about the use of renewable energy.

UPDATE (Feb. 11, 17:14 UTC): Added info in last bullet point.

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