The Group of Twenty (G20) has welcomed the high-level recommendations of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on crypto asset activities and global stablecoin arrangements, according to Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister of India, which currently holds the G20 presidency. During a press conference on Tuesday, Sitharaman said, “Members also discussed the presidency note that India had prepared and noted that it would be an important input towards prioritizing areas of work essential for achieving a comprehensive cohesive and coordinated global policy and regulatory framework.”
The FSB’s recommendations, which follow a consultation in which traditional finance companies pushed for stronger crypto controls, call for tougher rules on safeguarding crypto clients’ assets and avoiding conflicts of interest. India’s central bank governor Shaktikanta Das said a Jan. 2023 paper from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which includes crypto bans as a policy option alongside regulation, reflects “huge risks” in crypto, something “we have been saying” for years.
Das also spoke to the G20’s discussions on central bank digital currency (CBDC), saying that there has been a “perceptible change in thinking … that CBDC is an important aspect which needs to be looked at more seriously.” He added that digital versions of fiat “will mean a fundamental change in the currency system.”
The G20 will be presented a joint synthesis paper of the FSB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) that focuses on the global macro implications of crypto in September. This is when the position of the G20 on crypto during India’s presidency will be finalized.