IMF chief economist calls for global crypto regulation

Gita Gopinath, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), believes that it is necessary to develop a global policy of regulating cryptocurrencies instead of banning them. According to Gopinath, if the countries refuse to regulate digital currencies, they will not be able to control offshore exchanges.

Countries around the world are concerned about the problem of digital currencies control at the moment. The People’s Bank of China has officially introduced a number of new rules to combat cryptocurrencies, and the Central Bank of Russia has proposed banning mutual funds from investing in digital assets.

In the UK, members of Parliament have called on the Financial Conduct Authority to prohibit crypto firms from using the words “invest” and “investment” for advertising purposes. For this reason, the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has restricted several crypto marketing campaigns of some exchanges and companies. This summer ASA has already announced that it will tighten the ru­les for crypto adver­ti­sing

During her speech at a conference organized by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Gopinath noted that no country will be able to solve the problem of crypto regulation on its own. Only the joint efforts of regulators of all countries will lead to a successful result. According to the chief economist, the rules governing digital currencies should be similar to those applying to other financial investment assets.

The International Monetary Fund stated that the capitalization of the world cryptocurrency market has already reached $2.5 trillion, so state run public authorities should keep a good look-out for the situation to eliminate risks associated with digital assets.

The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, also spoke for the global regulation of digital currencies. She believes that these measures will help at struggle with money laundering through cryptocurrencies. The same opinion is shared by Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts. This summer, the politician appealed to the US Secretary of the Treasury requesting to speed up the development of regulatory provisions for the crypto market.

The IMF is also concerned about the lack of stablecoins regulation, pointing out that this could weaken the financial system. According to the experts of the organization, the regulatory rules of stablecoins are meant to be the same as for traditional currencies.