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Global trading floors are showing growing nervousness, and ro যাচ্ছেন European monetary authorities are paying closer attention to developments in the United States than to intra-European developments.

Key takeaways:

the European Central Bank (ECB) says the collapse of the U.S. stock indexes and cryptocurrency space is now the most significant global threat to financial stability.

Excessive concentration of capital in major U.S. IT corporations and the meteoric rise of stablecoins could accelerate the spread of negative consequences.

the ECB is prioritizing policy maneuverability in preparation for increased volatility on the stock exchanges.

A new concern has come to the fore, eclipsing inflationary fears or energy shocks: the risk that the continued decline in the value of U.S. stocks and digital currencies could become a global financial malaise.

Speaking in late November, ECB Governing Council member Alvaro Santos Pereira said the financial system relies on valuations that are excessively detached from reality – particularly Wall Street and digital assets. Pereira warned that both of these segments have become “dangerously disconnected” from fundamentals, making them vulnerable to sharp price revisions. The latest drop in the S&P 500 index – approaching the most significant since April – is seen by the ECB not as a healthy recovery, but as a marker that risk appetite may have changed too dramatically. According to Pereira, any event that destabilizes U.S. markets will not stay within the borders of the United States for long, as global financial conditions remain tightly tied to the trajectory of U.S. capital flows.

The regulator’s concerns are not just limited to declining stock prices.

Pereira pointed to the dominance of a small group of leading U.S. technology firms, calling them “bottlenecks” for the global economy. Their deep involvement in artificial intelligence, cross-cultural data infrastructures and digital services means that any failure – regulatory or financial – has the potential to shake markets far beyond the United States.

Cryptocurrency assets have been singled out as an additional source of potential rifts. Pereira argued that the growth of this market and the increased role of dollar-backed stablecoins have made the digital asset sector a significant stressor in times of dramatic price movements.

Pereira’s message was not just a cautionary tale – it signaled a course of action. He emphasized the need for the ECB to remain flexible in order to be able to intervene if financial tensions escalate, stressing that price stability remains the institution’s main objective, even if markets enter a phase of corrective movements.

The timing of Pereira’s speech was not random. The ECB’s semi-annual financial stability review, which will be presented by Vice President Luis de Guindos, is expected to focus heavily on global spillover risks related to U.S. markets, crypto-assets and the growing influence of tech giants.