The President of the European Central Bank admitted that “there will be control” over the digital euro, which made the crypto community very unhappy.



A widely circulated video of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde admitting that the digital euro would be used in a “limited” way to control what people can spend was taken from a three-week-old hoax video.

In the video, which was highlighted by breaking news account Watcher Guru on April 6 and has generated a lot of discussion on social media, Lagarde expressed a desire not to rely on currencies from “unfriendly countries,” or from “private corporate entities like Facebook or Google.” She said she “personally believes we must move forward” with a digital euro.



Cointelegraph traced the original source of the video to a March 17 hoax video in which Lagarde appeared to be more candid than usual as she believed she was speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The pranksters have had similar conversations with other public figures, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling and former US President George W Bush.

When “Zelensky” noted that “the problem is that they [European protesters] don’t want to be controlled by a central bank digital currency,” Lagarde conceded that “there will be controls, you’re right. You’re absolutely right,” but suggested that it would be “limited controls,” adding:

"We are considering whether for very small amounts, anything around 300, 400 euros, we could have a mechanism with zero controls. But that could be dangerous."

But Lagarde noted that kB attacks can and have been funded entirely by small anonymous transactions.

Lagarde’s comments were heavily criticized by the crypto community, especially her mention that a digital euro would allow for control over people and payments.



Some users saw the bright side, suggesting that by providing clarity on “where this is all going,” people will be pushed toward using decentralized currencies like Bitcoin. Bitcoin $27,942



The ECB began a two-year investigation into a digital euro in July 2021 and has been reporting on its progress.

The investigation is due to end on September 29 and, according to Lagarde, a decision on whether to launch it will be made in October.