G20 consensus that the regulation of cryptoassets must be global: Nirmala Sitharaman in the US

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday (April 13) that an agreement has been reached among G20 countries that any action on crypto assets must be global.

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington, Sitharaman said members of the G20 agree that a globally coordinated understanding will not only be needed to address the challenges posed by cryptoassets. but also to regulate them.

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The grouping has responded to the issue with clarity and during India’s presidency of the G20, a “synthesis paper” will be taken up on issues related to crypto-assets, she told reporters.

“I’m happy to say that there is a greater acceptance among all G20 members, that any action on crypto assets needs to be global,” Sitharaman said, adding, “The G20, I think, has responded fairly (to the crypto challenge). ).”

Sitharaman on Thursday chaired a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the member countries with Governor Shaktikanta Das of the Reserve Bank of India.
Issues related to cryptocurrency and its challenges were discussed at the meeting.

“The G20 and its members agree that it is not going to be possible to have an independent stand-alone country dealing with crypto-assets and that there needs to be a globally coordinated understanding of how to go about regulating crypto-assets,” she said in response to a question.

“The way we see this outcome under our presidency is that the IMF paper will be discussed, the FSB (Financial Stability Board) paper will also be taken up, and a synthesis paper will be prepared from the IMF paper and the FSB paper both put together,” said Sitharaman.

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There will be a discussion in September and October, and at the end of the day we will see a roadmap being prepared for how and what kind of understanding the members of the G20 have in this, and it can be taken forward on specific regulatory actions as and when the G20 takes a call to that, said the finance minister.

Noting that she does not want to preempt a decision, Sitharaman said that the work done by the FSB and the IMF indicates that crypto-assets, especially those outside of central banks, which are not backed by any sovereign assets, can cause macroeconomic instability.

“So, today we are in a position to see how countries now recognize that it is not only a regulatory issue for cryptoassets, where the countries have to come together, but the IMF dealing with it has also this time mentioned that they can be issues of macroeconomic stability in itself, she said.

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“Today I am very pleased to have heard European Central Bank Governor Christine Lagarde talk about specific examples of how money has been routed into this operation, which has resulted in too many such companies engaging in it raising questions about where the track is. “, said the minister.

Sitharaman emphasized that it was a “very substantive” discussion and the agreement that everyone had was this: “Yes, it has to be handled globally”.

(With input from agencies)