European Central Bank chief says her son 'ignored me royally' and lost nearly everything he invested in crypto

• Christine Lagarde's son lost 60% of his investments through crypto, she said on Friday.
• The ECB chief has been a long-standing critic of crypto assets.
• She has warned that inexperienced investors are at risk, and that crypto allows for illicit activity. 

Christine Lagarde's long-standing scrutiny of crypto has recently hit close to home, after the European Central Bank chief disclosed that her son lost around 60% of his investments on digital assets.

"He ignored me royally, which is his privilege," Lagarde said Friday, speaking at a town hall in Frankfurt. "And he lost almost all the money that he had invested."

She did not specify which of her two sons, who are both in their mid-thirties, she was referring to.

The loss reinforces the words of caution the central bank chief has previously voiced about what can happen when investing in crypto. 

"I'm concerned about those people who think it's going to be a reward, who have no understanding of the risks, who will lose it all, and who will be terribly disappointed, which is why I believe that should be regulated," Lagarde said in an interview last year.

Lagarde has been particularly wary of crypto's use as a money laundering tool, potentially financing criminal and terrorist activities. Last week, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering charges brought by the US Department of Justice, agreeing to step down as the CEO of the world's largest crypto exchange. 

In the European Union, the issue has become prominent given newly updated crypto regulation. The framework places banks as the leading crypto-service providers, allowing crypto activity to circumvent the ECB's purview, a central bank official warned this month.

Meanwhile, the ECB is laying the foundations for a digital euro, Reuters said, as numerous countries around the world embark on digitalization of their currencies to keep pace with crypto.