“No global stablecoin arrangement should begin operation in the European Union until the legal, regulatory and oversight challenges and risks have been adequately identified and addressed”, says a draft statement by the EU Council and the European Commission to be submitted to EU finance ministers on Friday 8 November for formal adoption in December.
The draft declaration identifies many challenges and risks related to consumer protection, privacy, taxation, cybersecurity, money laundering and terrorist financing. When a cryptocurrency has global ambitions, such as Facebook’s Libra, the concerns raised can be amplified and affect the integrity of payment systems and financial stability, the draft text stresses.
Faced with such challenges, the EU Council and the Commission consider that “all options should be on the table, including measures to prevent unmanageable risks from cryptocurrencies materialising on a global scale”.
While not denying the opportunities of cryptocurrencies to facilitate and reduce the costs of cross-border payments, Member States and the Commission welcome the ongoing work, in particular within the ECB, to “assess the costs and benefits of central bank digital currencies”.
See the draft declaration: http://bit.ly/2pFLlB9 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)