The fund will greatly expand to cover all aspects of digital currency while also working with related financial institutions.
The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, plans to “step up” its monitoring of digital currencies, according to a report by Reuters. This intent, as published
in an IMF paper Thursday, details how the fund plans to “manage this
far-reaching and complex transition” toward a digitized economy.
“Rapid
technological innovation is ushering in a new era of public and private
digital money,” the report reads, highlighting the benefits of digital
assets. “Payments will become easier, faster, cheaper, and more
accessible, and will cross borders swiftly. These improvements could
foster efficiency and inclusion, with major benefits for all.”
Related: IMF plans to meet with El Salvador’s president, potentially discussing move to adopt Bitcoin
However,
such implementations can only occur if the IMF can “keep pace with
policy challenges,” which require a deeper look into digital economies
as a prospect. The fund plans to work with institutions “consistent with
its mandate,” such as central banks, regulators, and the World Bank
while expanding its own digital money research.
As disclosed in an
April 2021 paper, the IMF plans to add five sets of experts to properly
conduct research. Their skills include lawyers, digital risk experts,
financial sector experts, fiscal economists, and data specialists. This
set of skills should thoroughly cover research into the digital currency
industry, the paper claims.
The fund will target Central Bank
Digital Currencies, or CBDCs, stablecoins, cryptoassets, and more. It
will examine how these assets represent financial independence, can act
as reserve currencies, and how they can replace current payment systems.
Related: Steve Hanke warns BTC could ‘completely collapse the economy’ of El Salvador
Earlier this week, the IMF published a warning
regarding El Salvador’s recent Bitcoin law. While it didn’t mention the
country directly, the warning noted that “granting cryptoassets legal
tender status” could threaten local economies, not to mention the
time-consuming process of citizens “choosing which money to hold.”
Conversely, the IMF went on record earlier this month claiming that CBDCs could provide the global financial system with a “clean slate.”
source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/imf-intends-to-ramp-up-digital-currency-monitoring
