ECB's Panetta warns about crypto-related reputational risks for banks

European Central Bank policymaker Fabio Panetta on Friday called for a close monitoring of the reputational risks banks face in providing crypto-asset services to customers.Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo in January carried out what CEO Carlo Messina described as "a test" by buying 1 million euros in bitcoins, the world's largest digital currency.Intesa in 2023 set up a proprietary trading desk for digital assets and last year started handling spot trades with crypto assets."There is a concern that crypto-asset holders might not fully understand their nature and conflate them with traditional banking products, with potentially negative repercussions for confidence in the credit system should losses occur," Panetta said.