Gabriel Makhlouf, the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, compared cryptocurrencies to a "Ponzi scheme" and said policy action was "urgently needed" to protect consumers.

In a blog post, the governor said that while the Irish central bank is "open" to the potential of "secured cryptocurrencies" such as electronic Money tokens (EMTs) and asset reference Tokens (ARTs), unsecured cryptocurrencies "are a completely different story."

Makhlouf wrote, "I think the claimed benefits of 'unsecured cryptocurrencies' should be taken with a great deal of skepticism." Buying such products is a lot like buying a lottery ticket: you might win, but you probably won't. It goes without saying that describing it as an 'investment' is an abuse of the term and a 'Ponzi scheme' would be more accurate."

Makhlouf welcomed the recent vote by the European Parliament on the Crypto Asset Market Act (MiCA) as an "important step" for the crypto market. However, the rule will not be fully implemented until 2025.

"The reality is that cryptocurrencies are not going away anytime soon, but the nature of this product requires international coordination to ensure that its regulation and oversight is at the same level as the risks it poses," he said.

"The treatment and disclosure, governance, risk management and exchange of information in the cryptocurrency market should not be different from other financial markets."