Germany Joins European Drive For Global Regulation Of BitcoinGermany has joined the European push to regulate bitcoin out of concern it is being used by money-launderers, drug traffickers and terrorists. Germany’s Finance Ministry welcomed French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire’s proposal to ask the Group of 20 to consider joint bitcoin regulation, Bloomberg reports.https://www.ccn.com/germany-joins-european-drive-for-global-regulation-of-bitcoin/ Concerted regulation by countries across the globe is fine, but the regulation shouldn't be so heavy so as to kill innovation. We all know how BitLicence in New York played out. Companies will pack their bags and leave in this globalized world, if they find that the conditions don't suit them. You can't expect a small fintech company to operate the way a bank does.
i think that's the whole point of joint regulation. it's much easier to enforce tax and KYC compliance if the largest economies act in tandem. the fact that joint regulations are being discussed at the G20 level concerns me.
the thing about bitlicense was that there were lots of friendlier jurisdictions for businesses to turn to. if the G20 countries act together (and i don't know how likely that is), that could absolutely stifle innovation and partially drive the economy underground. my sense is that over the next year, we are going to see strong attempts by governments to more closely monitor/control fiat inflows and outflows from the bitcoin economy (with an emphasis on exchanges).
