Global Crypto Regulation For IMF Head Lagarde Inevitable

According to IMF head Christine Lagarde, global regulation of cryptographic currencies is "inevitably" imminent. She said this in an interview at the current World Government Summit in Dubai last Sunday. The IMF head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees the main reasons for this in the dangers of its illegal use. After repeated cautionary demands and coordinated activities, Lagardes' renewed warning not only gives a hint of future IMF intervention, but also makes an end to the global patchwork of regulations more likely.

If one asks Christine Lagarde, the answer to the question that has been on the table for some of the leaders of these days is already on the table. How to deal with the increasing influence of cryptocurrencies, she will be sure of this on Sunday at the World Goverment Summit on Politics and Technology.

"It's inevitable. This is clearly a field in which we need international regulation and proper monitoring ",

says the 62-year-old Frenchwoman in an interview with CNNMoney. She warned against "dark activities" in the shadow of the digital currencies.

This necessity would be primarily due to the dangers of illegal use. She stressed that the IMF is currently actively pursuing efforts to curb the possibilities of money laundering and terrorist financing through digital currencies. However, regulators would have to focus far less on individual currencies than on the people who use them. It is important to check who uses the currencies for what and whether there are licenses and responsible supervision.

In the past, Lagarde had often warned against the criminal potential of cryptographic currencies. Nevertheless, a call for joint regulation is new.

From Davos to Buenos Aires: crypto regulation on the highest economic stage
Last month, the head of the IMF spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos on crypto regulation. Here, she reiterated that the IMF is already intensively concerned with the opportunities and challenges of cryptocurrencies. Illegal transactions carried out with the help of cryptocurrencies are unacceptable. Nonetheless, it gave some thought to the innovative power of the newcomers.

In Davos, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and British Prime Minister Theresa May, for example, were more resolute. They, for their part, echoed Lagarde's response to forthcoming regulatory initiatives. For example, May announced that her government would deal "very seriously" with the criminal uses of cryptographic currencies.

Meanwhile, Federal Finance Minister Peter Altmaier and his French counterpart Bruno LeMaire are calling this month for Kryto currencies to be placed on the summit agenda of the upcoming G20 summit. In a joint letter to the G20 presidency, Germany and France are urging Argentina, as host country, to consider the issue of the regulation of cryptographic currencies at the forthcoming summit in March. There it is important to develop international solutions for dealing with the emerging crypto trade in the future.

Buenos Aires confirms what Davos has already announced:"Cryptocurrencies are determined to find their way onto the big stages of the world economic summit.

However, there is still a patchwork of regulatory responses from individual countries around the world. When asked by governments, state institutions and authorities, there is no consensus on how to deal with digital payment alternatives. If the IMF now intervenes in a coordinating manner, this would be a true game changer.