Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

It is one of those subjects that probably deserves its own meeting. My views on crypto have developed. It is important to be clear because we all use the word "crypto" to mean certain things but there is a spectrum of things under that heading. At one end is what I would call unbacked crypto, which is crypto that has no link to any underlying assets and has no anchor to provide stability of value. It asserts that it is money but it is not a unit of account. It does not appear to be a means of exchange and it is certainly not a store of value. I am delighted the Deputy did not attach the word "currency" to crypto because I think this gives a misleading view of it. I only use the word "crypto". That unbacked currency has no social value whatsoever. Trying to ban it is probably unrealistic and may have unintended consequences. People who put their money in unbacked crypto, and probably the most significant stock of crypto out there is unbacked, are essentially gambling. When you gamble, you can win but most of the time, you are a loser. If people want to gamble, we should let them but I have said publicly and I am happy to repeat today that if you put your money in unbacked crypto, you need to be prepared to lose all of it. I am concerned about the impact on Irish retail customers, particularly young people. I cannot remember the data off the top of my head but a reasonable number of young adults-----