Belgium's former finance minister believes that if a government decides to prohibit drugs, it should also put a prohibition on cryptocurrencies.
MEPs have been debating how the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank has affected markets in European territories.
Johan Van Overtveldt, a member of the European Parliament and former Minister of Finance of Belgium, has taken a hard stance on the current banking crisis, calling for a "strict ban" on crypto assets. Van Overtveldt argues that crypto assets, which are often unregulated, can further complicate an already complex financial situation and lead to greater instability. He also believes that crypto assets are often used to facilitate illegal activities and exacerbate money laundering.
On Wednesday, Belgian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Johan Van Overtveldt made a controversial suggestion to his fellow lawmakers, arguing that cryptocurrency should be banned in order to learn the lessons of the recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank in the United States. Calling digital assets “speculative poison”, Van Overtveldt’s suggestion has been met with criticism from many in the cryptocurrency industry, who view the suggestion as a knee-jerk reaction to the banks’ failure. Despite this criticism, MEPs will continue to discuss the impact of these banks’ collapses on markets within the European Union.
Nog een les te trekken uit de huidige bankcommotie. Leg een strikt verbod op cryptocurrencies op. Speculatief gif en geen enkele economische- of sociale toegevoegde waarde. Als een overheid drugs verbiedt, moet ze ook crypto’s verbieden.
— Johan Van Overtveldt (@jvanovertveldt) March 17, 2023
On October 2022, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament approved the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, expected to go into effect starting in 2024. This was the culmination of a successful career for Belgium's former finance minister, Johan Van Overtveldt, who joined the European Parliament in 2019. Van Overtveldt was the finance minister of Belgium from 2014 to 2018, and his role in the European Parliament has allowed him to have a major impact on the future of crypto-assets. MiCA is a framework that will create a regulatory environment to foster innovation and protect consumers in the crypto-asset market.
As the banking crisis continues to take its toll, U.S. lawmakers are pointing to financial institutions' connections to cryptocurrency firms as one of the causes of the industry's downfall. Silvergate Bank was the first to go, filing for voluntary liquidation on March 8, followed shortly thereafter by Silicon Valley Bank on March 10, and the New York regulators taking control of Signature Bank on March 12. In the wake of this, SVB Financial Group recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As the crypto industry reels from these losses, many are now waiting to see what effect this will have on the market moving forward.
