If you are in Europe, hold Bitcoin (BTC). The European Central Bank (ECB) will soon stop considering BTC as a “highly risky asset”, acknowledging its potential of “shaking the [financial] system” as it tries to stabilize the economy which is already in tatters.
This move will be facilitated by the presence of a new ECB head, Christine Lagarde, who has been proposed to take over the outgoing head, Mario Draghi. Notably, Lagarde, who is a Managing Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), considers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies more positively compared to Draghi.
For example, in April, Lagarde told CNBC that:
“The role of the disruptors and anything that is using distributed ledger technology, whether you call it crypto, assets, currencies, or whatever…that is clearly shaking the system.”
EU Economy on The Precipice
Notably, the IMF managing director is taking over the leadership of ECB when the economy of the European Union (EU) is in bad shape. The economy is majorly suffering from inflation and heading towards a recession. As noted by Raoul Paul, an analyst, banks in the UK, Spain, France, among other European countries are “in free fall, with [their] own cliff of death approaching.”
Paul continues:
“So, the knock-on effects are all lining up to push one bank after another off the cliff of death…and there ain’t a thing the ECB can do about it, as they will have only one mandate – inflation. They have to cut rates. And this is why Christine Lagarde has been brought in.”
ECB Going Political
According to the analyst, for the EU economy to be back on its two feet, the incoming ECB head must have a political side. Additionally, the ECB will also need to force fiscal reforms. Lagarde is the perfect match for the post, considering she has a background in politics and is not a traditionally trained economist as her predecessors.
Her bio on the IMF website states that she held the position of a Finance Minister in France between June 20017 and July 2011. Additionally, for two years, Lagarde served as France’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade.
Apart from being a politician, and before joining the IMF, Lagarde:
“Had an extensive and noteworthy career as an anti-trust and labor lawyer, …has degrees from Institute of Political Sciences (IEP) and from the Law School of Paris X University, where she also lectured.”
Unfortunately, even with the desired background needed to turn the EU economy around, it will take time since ECB will need to avoid capital by buying any credit instrument. However, the ECB must not approach the stabilization process in a way that would give more powers to the dollar since a strong dollar is capable of collapsing the banks. The effect is likely to spill over to the global economy.
Make Room for Bitcoin (BTC)
To stay safe during the stabilization process, Paul recommends:
“Own bonds, dollars, Bitcoin, and Gold. The former two are the beneficiaries of current needs, and the latter two are the high-gamma options on this escalating to an extreme policy event.”
Experts have already pointed out that Lagarde’s position at the ECB will have a positive impact on the overall crypto industry. For instance, the senior market analyst at eToro, Mati Greenspan, notes:
“Indeed, Christine Lagarde who is set to replace Mario Draghi on 1 November is extremely pro digital assets. Not Bitcoin, of course, but she has advocated already for state-backed cryptocurrencies as well as settlement tokens like XRP and JPM coin. We can expect that someone so crypto friendly in such a position will be good for the industry as a whole.”
