IMF Executives Call for Global Crypto Regulatory Regime To Keep Consumers Safe

Two senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) executives are advocating for a global cryptocurrency regulatory framework.

IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department’s deputy director, Aditya Narain, and assistant director, Marina Moretti, say that a global regulatory framework for crypto assets is necessary to protect users, encourage innovation and engender order in the markets.

“This is why the IMF is calling for a global response that is (1) coordinated, so it can fill the regulatory gaps that arise from inherently cross-sector and cross-border issuance and ensure a level playing field; (2) consistent, so it aligns with mainstream regulatory approaches across the activity and risk spectrum; and (3) comprehensive, so it covers all actors and all aspects of the crypto ecosystem.

A global regulatory framework will bring order to the markets, help instill consumer confidence, lay out the limits of what is permissible, and provide a safe space for useful innovation to continue.”

According to Narain and Moretti, cryptocurrency regulations vary across the globe with jurisdictions pulling in different directions.

“But national authorities have, on the whole, taken very different approaches to regulatory policy for crypto assets.

At one extreme, authorities have prohibited the issuance or holding of crypto assets by residents or the ability to transact in them or use them for certain purposes, such as payments.

At the other extreme, some countries have been much more welcoming and even sought to woo companies to develop markets in these assets.”

The IMF executives say that the “fragmented global response” is ineffective as the various jurisdictions are working at cross-purposes.

“The resulting fragmented global response neither assures a level playing field nor guards against a race to the bottom as crypto actors migrate to the friendliest jurisdictions with the least regulatory rigor — while remaining accessible to anyone with internet access.”

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