Ashley Alder, chair of the International Organization of
Securities Commissions (IOSCO) said the boom in digital currencies such as
Bitcoin was one of the three main areas authorities were now focused on,
alongside COVID and climate change.
"If you look at the risks we need to address, they are
multiple and there is a wall of worry about this (crypto) in the conversations
at an institutional level," Alder said during an online conference
organised by the OMFIF thinktank on Thursday.
He cited cybersecurity, operational resilience, and a lack
of transparency in the crypto world as the key risks that regulators are
lagging behind on.
Focus on crypto markets has intensified again this week amid
more wild volatility that has long-alarmed watchdogs.
The collapse of so-called 'stablecoin' TerraUSD saw the
chairman of the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday urge US lawmakers to
toughen up crypto regulations, while bitcoin has also slumped nearly 20 percent
this week.
Alder said a global group that tried to align crypto rules
was clearly needed, likening it to various set-ups already in place for climate
finance, including one under the G20 group of leading economies.
"There isn't anything like that for crypto at the
moment," said Alder, who is also CEO of Hong Kong's Securities and Futures
Commission.
"But I do think now it's seen as one of the three C's
(COVID, climate and crypto) so it's very, very important. It has gone up the
agenda, so I would not expect that to be the case the same time next year."
© Reuters
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