FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde called for global Bitcoin regulation on Wednesday, saying digital currency was used for money laundering activities in some cases and that any loophole needed to be closed.
Bitcoin has moved out of its niche in recent years and is now bought by ordinary people, mutual funds and even large corporations. Some have even taken out loans to buy more cryptocurrencies, the value of which has increased almost tenfold since last March.
But its largely anonymous nature raised concerns that it could be used for money laundering and other illegal activities.
“(Bitcoin) is a highly speculative asset, which has led to some funny business and some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activities,” said Lagarde in an interview at the Reuters Next conference.
Lagarde did not provide specific examples of money laundering cases, but said he understood that there were criminal investigations into illegal activities. She gave no further details.
The cryptocurrency industry is still poorly supervised or unregulated, although global standards have emerged in areas such as money laundering prevention (AML).
She joined several regulators around the world to call for the implementation of global rules for cryptocurrencies.
“There has to be regulation. This has to be applied and agreed upon … on a global level, because if there is a way out, that escape will be used ”, said Lagarde.
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Reporting by Alessandra Galloni, Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi; Catherine Evans edition