Bitcoin investors may 'lose all their money,' warns European Central Bank governing council member

• A European Central Bank governing council member warned investors they may lose everything investing in bitcoin.
• "Our role is to make sure that consumers are protected," Gabriel Makhlouf told $4.
• Bitcoin $4 for the first time this month, but has since seen volatile trading.

A European Central Bank governing council member said bitcoin investors should be prepared to lose their entire investment, the latest such warning from a central banker about cryptocurrency volatility.

"As the UK authority said a few weeks ago, if people want to invest in bitcoin, they have to be prepared to lose all their money - that's certainly my view, " said Gabriel Makhlouf, a governing council member of the ECB, on $4 on Friday.

Earlier this month, the UK financial regulator $4 bitcoin investors could well "lose all their money." Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are "high-risk, speculative investments," and should be treated as such, the regulator said at the time.

"If consumers invest in these types of product, they should be prepared to lose all their money," the Financial Conduct Authority said in $4.

That sentiment was shared on Friday by Makhlouf, who has also been governor of the Central Bank of Ireland since 2019.

Read more: $4

ECB members have often urged investors to use caution when buying and holding cryptocurrency. In 2018, for example, Yves Mersch, a member of the executive board, said bitcoin was "far inferior to existing payment options."

As bitcoin surged to new all-time highs in mid-January, ECB President Christine Lagarde called for additional regulation on such assets.

She $4, but is instead a "highly speculative asset which has conducted some funny business and some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activity."

The following day, bitcoin $4 for the first time.

It's $4 to by more than 7%, trading at about $32,770 on Sunday afternoon. Some analysts have said the cryptocurrency could be the next $4 growing over the next decade the way Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google grew in the last few years.

Read more: $4

On Friday, Makhlouf urged fellow central bank administrators to keep a close eye on cryptocurrency, especially "in their regulatory role."

He said: "Personally, I'm not sure why people invest in those sorts of assets, but they see them as assets clearly, and they see them as investments. Our role is to make sure that consumers are protected."