Report of the European Central Bank: cryptocurrencies do not threaten the EU and the global financial system

The ECB Task Force on the Study of Cryptocurrency Growth and Their Potential Impact on the Financial System, published its May report , in which key events of the cryptoindustry are affected.

The authors of the document recognize that cryptocurrency markets currently do not pose a threat to either the EU or the global financial system.

It seems that this conclusion was made judging by the market capitalization of virtual currencies of € 96 billion (or $ 107 billion) in January 2019. However, at the moment this figure rose to $ 276.3 billion, which is almost three times more than it was in January.

The authors draw attention to the fact that the market capitalization of cryptocurrency is only 4% of the popular shares of FAANG, or only 1% of EU GDP.

However, despite the small share of this industry in relation to the rest of the financial system, the ECB document still insists on a “single course in the regulation of the cryptoindustry”.

A number of inconsistent and inconsistent approaches applied at the level of individual countries may end up ineffective, the document says. According to the ECB, the rejection of this approach will lead to the fact that regulations will impede the "stability of the financial system associated with the market of cryptoactive assets."

The ECB researchers are for the time being the only group among regional regulators who consider cryptocurrencies in terms of threats to the existing financial system.

Not so long ago, the head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, also said that cryptocurrencies are a class of risky assets and in fact are not money. Then he pointed out that "the size of the crypto bank is not large enough for central banks to start the regulatory process."

Publication date 28.05.2019
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