Foreword: METI Advisory wrote this report for SEBA Bank AG. Abstract: Libra was a wake-up call for international regulators last summer. They realized that cryptocurrencies could rapidly become systemically relevant if they were to substitute national currencies to some extent. Analyses by the G7, Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) led to the introduction last October of a new category of token, the GSC, and to the formulation of strict authorization requirements. As a consequence, no such coin will be issued in the short term. The official sector has also been quite clear about the ineluctability of CBDCs and has initiated work to integrate CBDCs into a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) infrastructure. Reportedly, China has positioned itself as a potential first CBDC mover. Depending on who starts the innovation process and on the degree of international influence of its currency, the current international monetary system based on the USD as a global payment currency could be challenged. Irrespective of conjectures, the intense regulatory focus has enhanced trust in digital and crypto finance. The last few weeks has been rich of other noteworthy developments. Confirmation has been given in the US that the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are not securities – and therefore fall outside the remit of securities law; that Liechtenstein has written history by becoming the first state to provide a comprehensive set of rules for a digital asset ecosystem; that China has unveiled plans to become a leading blockchain jurisdiction, and that Japan and Hong Kong have introduced guidelines for crypto fund managers.
International regulators tackle the issues of stable coins and digital money (Nov 2019)
Mattia Rattaggi