- May 24th 2012 9:57pm CDT

European Central Bank Executive Board Member Yves Mersch touched upon Bitcoin today at a joint ECB/Bank of Italy workshop on Interchange Fees.

Commenting during part of a speech on retail payments in Rome, Italy, Mersch called “virtual currency schemes” an “interesting phenomenon.” Mersch went on to remark that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies were not yet economically important.

Mersch, who became a member of the European Central Bank in 2012, was previously Governor of the Bankque central du Luxembourg from 1998-2012, as well as Director of the Treasury and Personal Representative of the Minister of Finance during the negotiation of the Masstricht treaty.

Mersch concluded his remarks on by pointing out that “In Europe, virtual currencies do not pose a risk to price stability or financial stability, but do pose a risk for users.” He did note that the risk was more of the everyday type of risk shouldered by speculative investors, and not a risk to payments or payment systems.

You can find the transcript of the speech here

(Update/correction 10:52pm - in the second paragraph, Mersch’s last name was misspelled.)