G20 Sets October as Crypto AML Standard Deadline

Members of G20 countries issued a statement on Sunday (July 22) calling for anti-money laundering (AML) standards in relation to cryptocurrency assets.

The Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers held meetings in Argentina on Saturday (July 21) and Sunday with a strong focus on the monitoring of digital currencies.

According to the statement, G20 members put a call to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for additional clarification on how standards apply to crypto-assets by October 2018.

“Crypto-assets can deliver significant benefits to the financial system and the broader economy,” the document reads. “Crypto-assets do, however, raise issues with respect to consumer and investor protection, market integrity, tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing.”

G20 members made clear in the document that crypto-assets don’t pose a global financial risk, but that they “remain vigilant.”

Back in March G20 members previously asked FATF for AML standards on cryptocurrencies ahead of July’s meeting, which the organization reiterated in Sunday’s announcement.

“We commit to implement the FATF standards as they apply to crypto-assets, look forward to the FATF review of those standards, and call on the FATF to advance global implementation,” the statement from March read. “We call on international standard-setting bodies (SSBs) to continue their monitoring of crypto-assets and their risks, according to their mandates, and assess multilateral responses as needed.”

Similarly, in June Reuters reported that FATF began discussions on binding rules governing cryptocurrency exchanges as a result of the G20’s March call to the organization.

Reuters said FATF would consider how those rules could apply to new exchanges and how to best work with countries that have banned digital currency trading.

Following Sunday’s G20 statement, heavy crypto-favorite bitcoin rallied significantly and reached a two-month high of US$7,820, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. As of 2:36 p.m. EST on Monday (July 23), the digital currency dipped back slightly to US$7,751.91, although it it is still up 3.22 percent over a 24-hour trading period.

Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency in the five top digital currencies that is in the green over 24 hours: ethereum is down 1.73 percent to US$457.34, XRP has dipped by 2.52 percent to US$0.45, bitcoin cash has dropped 1.61 percent to US$795.73, and EOS has lost 1.53 percent in value to US$7.98, all as of 2:39 p.m. EST Monday.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.