significant investor protection issues that need to be examined before sponsors begin offering these funds to retail investors. ” the sec outlined more than 30 questions that had to be answered before it would give the green light to mutual funds and exchange - traded funds ( etfs ) that invest in bitcoin and its peers. the concerns refer in particular to the establishment of bitcoin etfs, some of which even use leverage to amplify the price movements. the extreme volatility in recent months highlights the large degree of speculation involved. likewise, the lack of liquidity is concerning. if many investors want to withdraw their money from the etfs on a particular day, the funds might struggle to meet the redemptions because they would struggle to sell off their atypical assets. and how would such funds deal with cases of market manipulation, as have happened in the past? 11 clarity on such aspects is vital. in the same vein, relevant market authorities should monitor, analyse and regulate the use of icos. an ico is a way of raising money from the public, often to start a project or to finance a company, using coins or tokens. in an ico, an entity issues newly created coins or tokens and offers them in exchange for fiat currencies, such as the euro, but more often vcs. in 2016, the total amount of funds raised through icos was less than €82 million. this number has dramatically increased to over €3 billion raised through icos in 2017. potential explanations for the increasing popularity of icos is that they allow companies to raise funds without ceding control to venture capital investors, or enduring the rigour and expense of an ipo process involving a legally binding prospectus, among other things. depending on their features and characteristics, icos can be regarded as either the issuance of vcs, as utility tokens to access or purchase a service or product, or as securities. in the latter case in particular, clarification is needed on the extent to which icos should be bound by existing regulations, such as on disclosure and prospectuses. this is particularly relevant when tokens are exchanged for fiat money. restraining the facilitators let me turn to the facilitators of the spread of vcs. vigilance is warranted in view of the repeated incidents, most recently the hack of the tokyobased vc exchange coincheck, where €430 million of virtual currency was stolen

mario centeno : the importance of financial education in the current economic context keynote intervention ( virtual ) by mr mario centeno, governor of the banco de portugal, at the conference " the new era of financial education ", organised by magyar nemzeti bank ( the central bank of hungary ), budapest, 3 october 2022. * * * good morning. thank you deputy governor kandracs for the invitation and for the opportunity to share my views on why financial education is so important. in these unprecedented times, financial literacy has a vital role. people need to understand what is happening in the economy and in the financial world, especially now that high inflation is present and interest rates are increasing. financial literacy provides consumers with important tools to help them become more resilient to shocks. those with greater financial literacy are less likely to be or become financially fragile. when managing their day - to - day finances, they are in a better position to make decisions that suit their needs and goals. they are more capable of anticipating and dealing with adverse economic conditions, namely by building up savings. low financial literacy has a disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable groups in our society. financial vulnerability and the lack of financial literacy are problems that compound each other. but, there are also wider paybacks of financial literacy beyond the benefits for the individual. by becoming more resilient, financially literate consumers contribute towards a more robust economy. the financial industry itself also benefits from consumers who can articulate their needs and desires. by making informed choices about suitable products, they help promoting a healthy, open and competitive financial market, therefore, supporting financial stability. for banco de portugal, promoting financial literacy has been a key priority for over a decade. within its banking conduct supervision mandate, financial literacy is a strategic pillar along with the regulation and oversight of financial institutions. empowering consumers to understand banking products is a complementary approach to the supervision of financial institutions. back in 2008, we launched a website dedicated to banking customers to keep them informed of the evolving landscape of their rights and duties. soon after, we started implementing specific financial literacy initiatives, always benchmarking with the recommendations issued by the international network on financial education of oecd. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches strengthening the financial resilience of households has been one of the top priorities of our financial education agenda, and its importance has increased in recent years. to support this endeavour, banco de portugal participated in the