UniCredit exec warns Europe may struggle to control a crypto-bank crisis

Elena Carletti, Vice Chair of the Board at major European banking group UniCredit, has warned that Europe could struggle to control a financial crisis linking cryptocurrency and the banking sector due to its limited deposit protection system. According to CoinDesk, Carletti explained that the full deposit protection demonstrated by U.S. regulators during the 2023 failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank would be difficult to implement in Europe. She noted that Europe's depositor protection is generally limited to €100,000 per person, which could prevent a comprehensive U.S.-style bailout if an account held by a stablecoin issuer with large reserves were to be compromised.