Riksbank governor thinks Bitcoin and other crypto assets won’t escape regulatory supervision by authorities.
Stefan Ingves is the governor of the central bank of Sweden. He declared in an interview on Monday that with the increasing popularity of crypto amongst people, the possibility for supervisory authorities to regulate them also grows.
“When something gets big enough, things like consumer interests and money laundering come into play. So there’s good reason to believe that [regulation] will happen.”
Stefan Ingves, governor of the central bank of Sweden
The governor also added that these regulations will presumably come at different times depending on the country that will try to implement them. But can money laundering be avoided if nations don’t collaborate with each other?
According to Asa Lindhagen, Sweden’s financial markets minister, money laundering is a very important issue and will most likely necessitate cross-border cooperation. She added that the government has already been tightening standards for digital currency exchange platforms.
Sweden has been one step ahead regarding the crypto ecosystem and its technology. Riksbank has been exploring the possibility of implementing a CBDC since 2017. The central bank announced it would test payment flows collaborating with Handelsbanken and TietoEvry.
“This partnership gives us the opportunity to evaluate what benefits the currency may provide, as well as giving us the chance to create value for the bank, our customers, and society in general.”
Benny Johansson, head, Nordic payments, Handelsbanken
During this time, Handelsbanken’s and TietoEvry’s systems will be tested. This will “evaluate the integration between the participants’ existing systems and the technical platform for the e-krona pilot”.
