IMF Urges Regulation Over Ban on Cryptocurrencies

In the event of a ban on cryptocurrencies, countries would lose control over the industry, so policy should focus on regulation rather than repression. This was stated by IMF Chief Economist IMF at the conference of NCAER.

According to her, it is impossible to ban digital assets, as users of these instruments would simply move to offshore exchanges that are not subject to the rules of any particular country.

“Can you really do this [ban cryptocurrencies], given that many exchanges are offshore and do not abide by the rules of a particular country,” she said.

She emphasised that no state can solve this problem alone, as cross-border cryptocurrency transactions are virtually impossible to control.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, the politician also said that digital assets are not currently a global threat. However, in her view, giving them status as legal tender would be a grave mistake.

In December, the IMF said that Gopinath would succeed Geoffrey Okamoto as its First Deputy Managing Director. She will be the first woman to hold the post.

Earlier, the IMF again criticised the legalisation of Bitcoin in El Salvador.

The organisation also warned of systemic risks to financial stability from the growing cryptocurrency sector and urged regulation of the industry.

As noted, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma committee on the financial market, said that Russian authorities were considering various options for regulating the industry, from a complete ban on ownership and purchase of crypto assets to the legalisation of Bitcoin exchanges.

Experts interviewed by ForkLog agreed that a Bitcoin ban in Russia makes no sense.