Cryptocurrency Regulation in the Americas…it’s time to let banks make stable e-currency work for everyone
Authored by:
Eric Maloney, PhD
VP Operations, Vesto LLC
Roger Taylor, MD, MPA
SVP Healthcare Sector, Vesto LLC
Summary
Countries around the world are grappling with the challenge of how to regulate cryptocurrency, with widely varying approaches. To better understand these variations, we reviewed the regulatory policies of 20 Latin American countries. We found them surprisingly inconsistent. One has declared Bitcoins to be valid currency, seven are developing mature cryptocurrency policy, seven remain generally neutral, three are trending towards more restrictive regulation, and two ban cryptocurrencies outright. We found a general trend since the 2018 LLOC (Law Library of Congress) report “Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around the World” for these countries to move their positions from negative to neutral, and neutral to positive, as their policymakers better understood the potential for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to improve international commerce, promote growth, and provide fast and affordable banking services to their constituents, many of whom are underserved by traditional banking systems.
However, even policymakers favorably disposed to the cryptocurrency marketplace can be confused as to how to regulate the wide variety of cryptocurrencies trading on the Internet today. The US, which has traditionally provided regional leadership in financial regulation, has been slow to develop a consistent position on cryptocurrency regulation. The current US Administration has begun a process to develop a unified approach, making this an opportune time to propose positive changes in the US, and for the US to collaborate with the countries in the Americas that are already developing mature cryptocurrency policies to develop a supportive and sustainable regional approach.
There is a clear need for a Pan-American regulatory framework to support the continuing development of a secure and responsible cryptocurrency commerce infrastructure in the Americas. With the total market cap of the more popular cryptocurrencies exceeding the market cap of each individual Latin American country, it’s clear that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Failed national attempts to suppress cryptocurrency trading, or replace it with CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) tend to force it underground, giving the dark web, unregulated traders and bad actors more power. The solution is to adopt a balanced approach, building on the regulatory framework for banks and financial institutions, and expanding it to support the positive benefits cryptocurrencies and the exchange of stable e-currencies and e-securities can deliver. In doing so, commerce throughout the Americas would be made more efficient and regional ties strengthened. Millions of unbanked and underserved citizens could more easily and safely access banking and DeFi (Decentralized Financial) services. This would reduce the drivers for dark money transactions, as well as the economic drivers for illegal immigration to more wealthy countries. The benefits could run wide and deep.
Fortunately, today’s broad availability of Stablecoins, whose value is tied to the value of an international fiat currency such as the US dollar, or a fixed asset such as gold, offers regulators the opportunity to view this newer stable e-currency differently than they have viewed more volatile and speculative cryptocurrencies. New cryptocurrency banking systems such as Vesto’s banking platform, which is designed to work within existing regulated banks and financial institutions and comply with all standard international banking regulations, offer regulators the opportunity to extend their traditional banking regulations to include cryptocurrency commerce. With such banking platforms, regulators can be confident that banks will know who the customers exchanging cryptocurrency are, track the value of assets and where they go, and assure accountability and regulatory compliance and reporting in a way that meets or exceeds what is now possible with cash, checks, and legacy banking systems. Deposits can be insured, and security and confidentiality controls are as strong or stronger than in traditional banking, and there is significantly less opportunity for fraud, theft, counterfeiting or money laundering than with checks or cash. Promoting the use of internationally accepted Stablecoins as legal stable e-currency will also have significant environmental benefits, since creating and verifying transactions in Stablecoins does not involve the huge electrical energy consumption of Bitcoin mining and Bitcoin transaction verification.
We recommend the development of model regulatory policies authorizing banks to let stable e- currencies, such as internationally accepted Stablecoins, work for everyone as legal currency when operating on a compliant cryptocurrency banking platform. We also recommend the development of model regulatory policies that authorize and regulate a wide range of other cryptocurrency transactions, including those involving Bitcoins, Altcoins and tokenized assets, when traded through a compliant cryptocurrency exchange platform. The time to act is now.
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For more information visit: vesto.io and/or email to [email protected]
For regulatory research enquiries contact:
Eric Maloney, PhD
VP, Operations, Vesto LLC [email protected]
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Travis McGregor CBO, Vesto LLC [email protected]
+1 (415) 988-5420
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