ECB official backs bitcoin clampdown

Yves Mersch joins growing list of experts calling for restrictions on cryptocurrencies

" What the experts have said about bitcoin

A top European Central Bank policymaker has joined calls for a global clampdown on virtual currencies such as bitcoin because of their threat to financial stability.

Yves Mersch, a member of the ECB's executive board, said the central bank shared the views voiced by Agustin Carstens, the head of the Bank for International Settlements, who on Monday condemned bitcoin as "a combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster".