Next week’s G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s 20 biggest economies will call for stronger monitoring of crypto-currencies while also assessing the need for a multilateral response to any international financial stability threats, reports Reuters.
The financial leaders will highlight how blockchain-based technological innovation has the potential to improve the efficiency and inclusiveness of the financial system but will also focus on the risks and instability that the recent crypto-currency speculative boom has brought.
“Crypto-currencies… raise issues with respect to consumer and investor protection, tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing. At some point they could have financial stability implications,” said a draft communique prepared for the meeting. “We agree that international standard-setting bodies strengthen their monitoring of crypto-assets and their risks,” The communique added that the meeting will “assess whether multilateral responses may be needed.”
Japan was the first country to adopt a national system to oversee cryptocurrency trading while in recent weeks France, Germany, the US and the EU have all said they plan to regulate their cryptocurrency markets. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, a 37-nation group set up by the G7 industrial powers to fight illicit finance, will also report to the G20 on ways to keep crypto-currencies from being used for money laundering.
The G20 will meet in Buenos Aires in on March 19 and 20.