FRANKFURT: Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele has ruled out the introduction of official digital money for the euro zone and warned of losses from investments in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, according to a German newspaper. "Digital central bank money analogous to cash is currently not in sight," Thiele told weekly Euro am Sonntag in an interview published on Saturday.Digital currencies allow users to make online transactions across borders instantaneously and have surged in popularity this year because of their eye-watering price rises. Bitcoin, the best-known, has increased in price around twentyfold since the start of the year.But the cryptocurrency plunged by 30 percent to below $12,000 on Friday as investors dumped it after its sharp rise to a peak close to $20,000 prompted warnings by experts of a bubble. "We are seeing a rapid increase in value, which brings the risk of rapid losses," Thiele said.Decentralised digital currencies like bitcoin are still not widely accepted. "We are all working on understanding the topic and building our know-how," he told the German daily Bild.

Source: The Star December 23, 2017 12:33 UTC