According to the Reuters report, the European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde has called for greater regulation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. She linked the use of cryptocurrencies with global criminality and money laundering. ECB chief Lagarde said the digital currency was increasingly being used by criminals worldwide to cover their tracks online and launder money beneath the authorities’ detection. She said criminals are relying on BTC and patchy regulation to move illegitimate money without oversight or supervision.
ECB President calls for more urgency around the global regulation of crypto.
ECB president called for more urgency around the crypto sector’s global regulation and more effort to develop common standards to prevent criminals from abusing digital currencies as a backdoor to money laundering and other nefarious activities. Highlighting the “funny business” going on in BTC markets, Lagarde described cryptocurrency criminality as “totally reprehensible.” “BTC is a highly speculative asset, which has conducted some funny business and some interesting and reprehensible money laundering activity,” she added. Currently, crypto regulations remain in a grey area in most countries, but regulators are catching up gradually.
Crypto regulations begin to tighten up after bitcoin’s massive rally.
The most notable example of crypto regulation has been in anti-money laundering, with exchanges and other crypto services now adhering to standardized AML requirements. The news coincides with a rally in BTC prices in recent months, spurred on by an increasing mainstream interest in BTC tokens. This has led to further calls for regulation worldwide, amid fears that more speculators could end up losing all of their money. Combined with soaring rates of fraud and concerns over money laundering and other criminality running through BTC, Lagarde said the time for light-touch regulation of the digital asset was over.
