Romania’s National Bank (BNR) maintained its critical position on virtual currencies, according to official reports the bank recently sent to state institutions.

BNR warned against the virtual currencies’ high volatility, as the bitcoin has tripled since the beginning of the year, reports local Profit.ro.

“Virtual coins have a very high volatility and a low security level compared to coins issued by central banks and regulated electronic currencies,” according to BNR.

Virtual currency holders have no guarantee that they will be able to change it in the future for goods and services, or in legal currency, the document shows. The central bank also warned that "virtual currencies are not suited to be used as a means of payment, but rather as a means of investing or speculation."

On the other side, the Finance Ministry said that it has no legislative initiative on virtual coins.

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