T20 Argentina, Task Force: An International Financial Architecture for Stability and Development, July 2018. Crypto-Assets (CA) are digital instruments aimed to serve as mediums of exchange that rely on decentralized control and boast the (yet to prove) promise of a revolution in Finance. Their meteoric rise entails both opportunities and perils. Rewards are uncertain; risks, much more tractable. We propose the design of a cross border framework to put CA on a level regulatory playing field with other competing financial instruments and activities. That involves keeping close scrutiny of CA linkages with the real economy and the existing conventional financial infrastructure, and bringing CA under the normal anti-money laundering (AML) and counter- terrorist financing (CFT) standards. Risks borne by users and investors – and possible systemic risk – deserve thorough examination while giving technology space to develop its genuine potential.
