Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a strong argument on Tuesday for global regulation of cryprocurrencies to reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. The Finance Minister stated at a high-level panel discussion hosted by the IMF that regulation would be difficult as long as non-governmental activity of crypto assets was conducted through unhosted wallets.
Cross-border payments between countries, she claims, will become much more efficient as a result of central bank-backed digital currencies. "On the non-governmental domain, the risk that concerns me the most is that you're looking at unhosted wallets across borders and over the world... So, regulation cannot be done by a single country within its terrain through some effective way, and technology does not have a solution that will be acceptable to many sovereigns at the same time applicable within each of their territories for accomplishing it across borders "she said.
She noted during a panel discussion on the topic 'Money at a Crossroad: Public or Private Digital Money?' that the hazards associated will have to be treated differently because the risks can vary based on the economics for each user scenario. Sitharaman used Nigeria as an example, saying that the application of regulation and risk involved for Nigeria would be different from the Bahamas, which has a thriving tourism and investment industry.
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