ECB Chief and Bitcoin Critic Christine Lagarde Says Her Son Trades Crypto

European Central Bank president and Bitcoin critic Christine Lagarde has admitted she has a son who has invested in cryptocurrencies—but still says she wouldn’t touch digital assets. 

On the Dutch program College Tour, the banker was asked by an audience member if she owned any crypto. “No, I don’t [have any crypto] because I want to practice what I preach,” she said. “I actually have a son who invested in crypto—I follow very carefully.” 

The audience member then asked, “And what have you taken away from that?” Lagarde responded: “That I would not put my finger in there.” She added that her son wouldn’t listen to her advice about staying away from crypto. 

Lagarde is a fierce critic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Just this week, she said that such assets were “worth nothing.” 

“It’s based on nothing. There is no underlying asset to act as an anchor of safety,” Lagarde added. “I’ve said all along that crypto assets are highly speculative, highly risky assets.”

Previously, the economist said it was “very unlikely” central banks would hold Bitcoin and claimed the biggest cryptocurrency was a “highly speculative asset” involved in money laundering. 

But Lagarde is very enthusiastic about centralized cryptocurrencies—namely central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). A CBDC is a digital form of fiat money, like the US dollar or euro, and many nations around the world are in different stages of researching and releasing them.

Lagarde has previously called the idea of a digital euro “important” and something that could benefit the trading bloc. The EU said in February that it would consider legislation to create a digital euro by early 2023.

Also on the College Tour show, Lagarde was asked about inflation and how she would bring it down. “In due course, it will come," she said.