Cryptocurrency exchanges will be policed more rigorously by regulators and the currencies themselves could present a future risk to financial stability, the Bank of England Governor has said.

Addressing the Scottish Economics Conference in Edinburgh via a video link, Mark Carney promised a clampdown on any use of cryptocurrency exchanges for money laundering and terrorism-financing.

Unlike a traditional digital bank transfer, it is impossible to trace the ownership of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, making them attractive to criminals and tax evaders.