French Finance Minister is seeking to urge G20 countries to discuss the regulation of digital currencies such as bitcoin, Reuters reported.
“I am going to propose to the next G20 president, Argentina, that at the G20 summit in April we have a discussion all together on the question of bitcoin,” Le Maire said (as quoted by Reuters). “There is evidently a risk of speculation. We need to consider and examine this and see how (...) with all the other G20 members we can regulate bitcoin.”
According to Bloomberg, German Finance Ministry is supporting Le Maire’s proposal to discuss joint regulation of bitcoin at the G20 summit. Italy is also open to discuss the proposal.
“It makes sense to discuss the speculative risks of virtual currencies and their impact on the financial system at international level,” the Finance Ministry in Berlin said in an email to Bloomberg.
The comments come as European Union member states and legislators recently reached an agreement on stricter rules bitcoin exchanges and wallet providers. The measures are aimed at ending the anonymity feature of digital currency transactions and pre-paid payment cards, which can be used for money laundering and terrorism financing activities.
The spurt in bitcoin price in the past couple of weeks has sent the global markets into a tizzy. Regulatory authorities across the globe are ramping up efforts to bring digital currencies under regulatory scope. In addition to the EU, Australia recently passed a bill that amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to expand its scope to include digital currency exchanges. Furthermore. the Malaysian central bank has published draft regulations aimed at making digital currencies more transparent in the country.
At the time of writing, BTC/USD is trading at 19000 levels.
