[2018-01-22] IMF Urges International Cooperation on Cryptocurrency Regulation

[Terraformer]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling on regulators around the world to coordinate on policies for cryptocurrencies after warning of ‘risks’ from the soaring prices of digital assets.

The IMF, the United Nations’ organization for global monetary cooperation, financial stability and economic growth, is pushing a “greater international discussion and cooperation among regulators” globally to form policies on cryptocurrencies. Speaking on behalf of the IMF, spokesman Gerry Rice weighed in on the benefits of cryptocurrencies in their use as payments as well as their abuse in money laundering, fraud and terrorist financing.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Rice added in quotes reported by Bloomberg:

“When asset prices go up quickly, risks can accumulate, particularly if market participants are borrowing money to buy. It’s important for people to be aware of the risks and take the necessary risk-management measures.”

Rice did not delve into specifics of the kind of collaboration or policies that the IMF is pushing for. The organization, which was established near the end of the second World War to reconstruct the international monetary and payments system, now functions as a fund that bails out countries embroiled in economic crises.

As a traditional financial heavyweight that continues to wield influence, the IMF has been known to taking a nuanced approach when discussing cryptocurrencies, particularly in their utility as an instrument for financial inclusion in developing or under-developed countries.

Nearly a year ago to the day, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde presented a report titled “Virtual Currencies and Beyond: Initial Considerations” at the World Economic Forum. With broad insights and research into cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ‘virtual currencies and their underlying technologies can provide faster and cheaper financial services and can become a powerful tool for deepening financial inclusion in the developing world,’ read an excerpt from the report read by Lagarde.

More recently in September 2017, Lagarde warned banks of “massive disruptions” bought on by cryptocurrencies and financial technologies.

She stated:

“The ways in which new technologies are lowering the cost to make financial transactions more accessible, even in very small numbers…I think it’s already massively disruptive.”

The IMF’s call for global cooperation on regulation of cryptocurrencies comes at a time when US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed last week the existence of several internal working groups looking into the usage of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to track their abuse in illicit actives.

https://www.ccn.com/imf-urges-international-cooperation-cryptocurrency-regulation/

[buwaytress]

Oh, they're panicking aren't they? Even the Euro Central Bank chief Draghi is now forced to have an "open debate" with youths on their ideas for cryptocurrency and how to regulate them. #AskDraghi I've never seen anyone with a face that says "To hell with me".

This is the guy who only a couple of months ago warned EU nations not to dabble in crypto, only to get slapped in the face when Estonia announced that it would go ahead and launch its ICO anyway (well, tokens and such and not exactly cryptocurrency but still).

They tried stopping it, they're going to try regulating it, as nation states and as regional blocs. They're going to throw everything they can at Bitcoin but they will soon realise that what doesn't kill Bitcoin actually makes it healthier. Refer to 2017.

[Carlton Banks]

Speaking on behalf of the IMF, spokesman Gerry Rice weighed in on the benefits of cryptocurrencies in their use as payments as well as their abuse in money laundering, fraud and terrorist financing.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Rice added in quotes reported by Bloomberg:

“When asset prices go up quickly, risks can accumulate, particularly if market participants are borrowing money to buy. It’s important for people to be aware of the risks and take the necessary risk-management measures.”

Hmmm, that last sentence sounds like a pretty accurate description of the stock market (i.e. prices going up fast, borrowing to buy, be aware of risks and manage them)

Rice did not delve into specifics of the kind of collaboration or policies that the IMF is pushing for.

And the "we're looking into it" rhetoric has been going on for how long, exactly?

The best they can do is exactly what the existing exchanges have already done: AML and KYC at the fiat gateway side. There's little hope of achieving anything else, once cryptocurrency takes off meaningfully (i.e. more than single percentage points of people are using it), there's not much that can be done. These top-down centralist thinkers should understand the way this ends, they only have to look at the history of decentralised technology to see that if the tech is powerful enough, it changes everything (and the old structures and their centers of power are swept away)

They tried stopping it, they're going to try regulating it, as nation states and as regional blocs. They're going to throw everything they can at Bitcoin but they will soon realise that what doesn't kill Bitcoin actually makes it healthier.

The EU is the least likely political entity to be able to come up with a unified policy. There are several serious challenges to the EU's overall coherency right now (in Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Spain, Italy and probably more). It's incredibly fragile.

So no political force that actually cares about Bitcoin is in any position to even attempt a workable policy, let alone actually implement one (which is the whole point really: there's very little that can realistically be done. They can do something ineffectual on their own, or do something ineffectual together )