Ethereum has been unable to gain recently as Bitcoin’s price has paused.
ETHUSD – Daily Chart
The price of ETH trades at $2,637 after a dump to the $2,174 level. The coin may struggle without any news catalyst.
The drop in ETH has been partly-driven by comments from ECB President Christine Lagarde on crypto. She said that the ECB was not planning a strategic BTC reserve and any adoption can help speed up the planned digital euro.
During a press conference, Lagarde said the bank rejected the idea of incorporating Bitcoin into European reserves on the basis that it is too volatile and associated with anti-money laundering. Her comments came after the Governor of the Czech National Bank was said to be considering Bitcoin with a weighting of up to 5% of its reserves.
Governor Ales Michl acknowledged Bitcoin’s volatility when discussing the idea with the Financial Times. “If you compare my position with other bankers, then I’m the one entering the jungle, or the pioneer,” Michl said. “I used to run an investment fund, so I’m a typical investment banker. I would say, “I like profitability.”
Czechia does not use the euro but is a member of the ECB General Council.
Central bankers are considering the idea after the Trump administration has committed to exploring the potential for a “national digital asset stockpile”, but said it would likely come from asset seizures rather than buying Bitcoin. That news has hurt the upward trajectory of some crypto assets as they expected to see fresh buying.
Mrs Lagarde’s said:
“On this matter that you referred to and whether central bank reserves should or could include bitcoins, I think there is a view around the table of the Governing Council, and most likely the General Council as well, that reserves have to be liquid, that reserves have to be secure, that they have to be safe, that they should not be plagued by the suspicion of money laundering or other criminal activities”.
And as a result, I am confident that bitcoin will not enter the reserves of any of the central banks of the General Council,” she added.
Bitcoin and coins like Ethereum may suffer as crypto investors take profits or move into trending assets.
