Frankfurt - (dpa) - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said cryptocurrencies are "based on nothing" and should be regulated to discourage people from speculating with their savings.

According to what was reported by Bloomberg news agency today, Saturday, Lagarde told Dutch television that she was worried about people "who lack understanding of the risks, who will lose (currencies), and will be very disappointed ... so I think it should be regulated."

Lagarde's comments come at a time when the cryptocurrency market is experiencing huge volatility, with the valuations of Bitcoin and Ethereum both declining by about 50% from last week's peak. At the same time, an asset class (a group of investments with similar characteristics and subject to the same regulations) is under scrutiny from regulators for the risks it may pose to the wider financial system.

The ECB president made clear her skepticism about the value of digital currencies, in contrast to the "digital euro" - a project expected to come to light within the next four years.
"My humble assessment is that (cryptocurrencies) are worth nothing, are based on nothing, there is no underlying asset that can be a safe land," Lagarde said.
"The day we have an ECB digital currency, a digital euro, I will guarantee it - the central bank will be behind it, I think it's very different from many of these things," she said.