IMF calls for ‘more’ crypto regulation – says ban should be an option

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), says that crypto needs “more regulation”. “If regulation fails or is too slow to implement, we should not be off the table to ban those properties,” he said.

IMF Head Calls For More Crypto Regulation

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva spoke about crypto regulation during the G20 meetings for finance ministers and central bank governors under the presidency of India in Bengaluru on Saturday. Commenting on the crypto oversight, she told reporters:

There should be more regulation.

His statement was followed by a roundtable discussion which he co-chaired with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The IMF chief and India’s finance minister agreed that regulating cryptocurrencies is a priority area for India, apart from debt restructuring.

Georgieva explained that the IMF, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) are committed to establishing a basis for regulation of cryptocurrencies that are not issued by governments or central banks. “We have to differentiate between central bank digital currencies [CBDCs] which are backed by the state and stablecoins and privately issued crypto assets,” he stressed.

“There has to be very strong pressure for regulation,” the IMF chief said, noting:

If regulation fails, if you are slow to do it, then we should not take banning those assets off the table, because they can pose a financial stability risk.

The IMF’s executive board this week provided guidance to help countries develop effective crypto policies. While most of the executive board directors agreed that “harsh sanctions are not the first best option, but targeted sanctions may be applicable,” some thought that “outright sanctions should not be ruled out.”

Furthermore, the board advised: “Crypto assets should not be given official currency or legal tender status in order to protect monetary sovereignty and stability.” Georgieva similarly said on Saturday:

Crypto assets are nothing, they cannot be accepted as legal tender.

The fund is against El Salvador accepting bitcoin as legal tender since the country made crypto a national currency in September 2021. Did not come true

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What do you think about the statements of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva regarding crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

An Austrian economics student, Kevin found bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects, and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

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