Irish central bank governor supports ban on crypto ads

Gabriel Makhlouf added that crypto currency has ‘no social value whatsoever,’ but he ultimately took a more laissez-faire attitude toward allowing retail investors to purchase crypto

The governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Gabriel Makhlouf, reportedly supports legislation that would ban crypto project advertising.

During a parliamentary session in Dublin on Wednesday, he told Irish lawmakers that the central bank was ‘very concerned’ about the risks retail customers face when investing in ‘unbacked’ crypto currencies, as per Bloomberg.

He added that crypto currency has ‘no social value whatsoever,’ but he ultimately took a more liberal attitude toward allowing retail investors to buy crypto.

According to Bloomberg, the governor said that when you gamble, you can win, but most of the time when you gamble, you’re actually losing. If people want to gamble, we should let them gamble.

He has specifically urged lawmakers to outlaw crypto ads targeted at young people, Cryptoslate noted quoting a Reuters article.

According to him, a ‘reasonable number’ of young adults had put money into crypto currencies, Cryptoslate said. Makhlouf continued by stating that there is an ‘uncomfortable’ amount of youth-targeted advertising.

As few tokens are backed by other assets, Makhlouf called the majority of crypto currencies Ponzi schemes.

With respect to crypto, the Irish central bank is more concerned about its risks to retail investors – particularly young investors – than systemic risks to financial stability, which he said were ‘minimal.’

According to Cryptoslate, Makhlouf also cautioned that upcoming stablecoin legislation in the European Union (EU), which is backed by fiat money, would not be able to resolve the problem. He was hinting at the markets in crypto assets (MiCA) rules, which contain guidelines for issuers of stablecoin.

Ireland has issued several cautions to consumers, but it still treats crypto currency businesses with some flexibility. Among businesses that recently received regulatory approval to operate in the country are Gemini and Binance, Cryptoslate further informed.

This is not the first time central bank has warned against the dangers of crypto advertising. In March last year, the Irish central bank issued a warning to consumers on the risk of ‘misleading’ advertisements promoting crypto investments, particularly adertisements from social-media influencers.