Cryptocurrencies were a significant part of the discussions at the G20 forum held this weekend in the city of Buenos Aires. For two days, representatives of central banks and financial institutions from 20 countries around the world discussed issues of global interest.
The President of the Central Bank of Argentina, Luis Caputo, was responsible for explaining to the public the conclusions of the third meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Presidents. Caputo mentioned during his speech that there was a consensus among members that cryptocurrencies do not pose a risk to the global financial system. However, they agreed that they should be supervised because of their potential to be used in criminal activities, including money laundering and terrorist financing.
Cryptocurrencies were discussed. The consensus is that they do not impose a global risk on the financial system, but it was very much taken into account, as I said before, that these are technologies that are just beginning, so you have to have a lot of control. Above all, also be very careful about what may be illegal activities.
Luis Caputo, the Central Bank of Argentina President
The G20 members called for better anti-money laundering standards, and cryptocurrencies use supervision
The official press release of the meeting of finance ministers and central bank presidents also stated that among the documents to be consulted for the group’s future action is the “report of cryptocurrencies on the work of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the bodies that establish international standards.”
In that statement, they stressed that “technological innovations, including those underlying cryptocurrencies, can bring significant benefits to the financial system and the economy as a whole,” referring to distributed accounting technologies (DLTs).
It concludes with a reiteration of the G20 members’ commitment to the implementation of FATF standards, an international anti-money laundering organization, and a request that they clarify how they apply their rules to cryptocurrencies by October 2018.
At the previous G20 meeting, held last March, it was determined that cryptocurrencies do not have the attributes of existing sovereign fiat currencies and this position was reiterated in the previous press release. Also, the group had committed to a more detailed analysis of regulatory issues to be discussed at the recent meeting.
