Overview

• In his final address as Consob president, Paolo Savona warned that the rapid expansion of cryptocurrencies could trigger a financial crisis on par with the 2008 subprime meltdown.
• He compared the crypto craze to Pinocchio’s “Field of Miracles,” saying the illusion of quick profits conceals profound market vulnerabilities.
• He urged a conscious cooperation among states to regulate cryptocurrencies rather than leaving oversight to private-sector interests.
• He proposed transforming the euro into a decentralized digital currency under public authority control to govern liquidity and counter speculative crypto assets.
• He highlighted Consob’s budget constraints as it handled 69 meetings, 997 case reviews, 429 resolutions and 52 takeover-related complaints and criticized US moves that bar a digital dollar while promoting bitcoin as a reserve currency.