sursa foto: Unsplash
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have little chance of circumventing regulation, as supervisors will respond to the popularity of the phenomenon, says Swedish central bank governor Riksbank, according to Bloomberg.
Although monetary policy officials have almost universally expressed skepticism about Bitcoin and its rivals, cryptocurrencies have continued to grow in enthusiastic numbers. This has led some of the biggest names in finance to change their strategy, with Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now offering encryption-related trading services.
“When something gets big enough, things like consumer interests and money laundering come into play. So there are good reasons to believe that [regulation] will happen,” Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves said on Monday.
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Swedish Financial Markets Minister Asa Lindhagen said the government was already tightening standards for cryptocurrency trading platforms. However, she said she was “working internationally.” She also said that tackling the risk of money laundering with cryptocurrencies is a “very important issue” that will require cross-border work.
It is not yet clear how a product designed to evade the control of national authorities will be regulated.
However, governments are trying to do this, with China, in particular, stepping up market pressure. The People’s Bank of China recently said that financial institutions are not allowed to accept cryptocurrency payments. However, there are signs that traders are still active, stressing the scale of the challenge.
In the United States, Federal Reserve officials are studying “different ways to address the issue,” said Randal Quarles, the Fed’s vice president of oversight, in May. However, federal agencies need time to review the correct regulatory approach before they can then create a supervisory framework, he added.
In the European Union, the Commission has put the issue to a hearing as it seeks to find out how best to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. In September, the institution proposed a pilot regime for market infrastructures interested in cryptocurrency trading.
Sweden, like China, is one of the most advanced countries in its efforts to develop a central bank digital currency. This is while the monetary authorities are trying to prepare for the disappearance of cash as a form of payment and are trying to ensure that cryptocurrencies do not fill the gap. Ingves previously estimated that Sweden could have its own e-crown issued by the central bank in about five years.