🗞 Crypto Currencies: The EU Commission wants to push Bitcoin regulation

Economists and banks warn against cryptocurrencies like the Bitcoin, investors are threatened with total loss. Now the EU Commission is examining regulations.

The EU Commission does not rule out a move to regulate cryptocurrencies. After a round table with around 40 industry and banking representatives, European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said Bitcoin is not safe in its value and that there is a lot of speculation. Investors risk to lose all their money.

According to Dombrovskis, the EU has already taken its first steps against cryptocurrencies. About two weeks ago, the Commission asked the financial supervisors to tighten the warnings for investors.

In the event of possible regulation, the Anti-Money Laundering Directive should also be applied in the future. But the finance ministers and the European Parliament still have to approve the amendment to the Money Laundering Directive.

However, according to Dombrovskis, further regulations have to be discussed on an international level because cryptocurrencies are traded around the world. "It's a global phenomenon, and that's why a global response is needed," said the Latvian. "But that does not mean that the EU can not act sooner."

In a joint letter to the Argentine G20 presidency at the beginning of this month, Germany and France asked to put the issue of cyber-currency risks, opportunities and the technologies behind it on the agenda of the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires in March. The result could be an internationally coordinated action.

For months, the meteoric rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Etherum and Ripple has kept the financial world in suspense. The call for regulation of the digital currencies is getting louder and louder.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), more or less the central bank of the central banks, recently said: "What may have been originally intended as an alternative payment system without government participation has now become a mixture of financial bubble, pyramid scheme and environmental catastrophe."

Still, the value of the crypto-tokens that are currently being moved around the world is not as large as the economy as a whole, to get a direct impact on financial stability by a large Bitcoin crash. But central banks must at least be prepared to intervene if necessary, according to many experts.

Is this something people will be happy about? Probably not. The discussion is open, share your opinion in the comments.

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Source: dpa
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